Territorial premiers call on Ottawa to fight climate change in the North
Joint statement urges the use of ‘increased federal attention,’ renewable energy, Indigenous knowledge
Nunavut Premier P.J. Akeeagok, seen in this December 2021 file photo, joined his Yukon and NWT counterparts in calling for “increased federal attention” to counter the impacts of climate change in the North. (File photo by Corey Larocque)
Nunavut Premier P.J. Akeeagok and his two northern counterparts called on the federal government to support renewable energy and climate change mitigation in the North.
Akeeagok, along with Yukon Premier Sandy Silver and NWT Premier Caroline Cochrane issued what was called the First Pan-Northern Leaders’ Statement on Climate Change Monday.
Canada’s North is warming up to four times faster than the global average and northern communities are seeing the impacts firsthand, according to a Government of Nunavut news release about their statement issued Monday afternoon.
Some of the impacts of climate change include food shortages, northern residents’ health and well-being and public safety.
“Climate change is disproportionally impacting our Arctic communities, making it imperative to invest in long-term sustainable solutions,” Akeeagok said in the release. Akeeagok was not available Monday to elaborate on the statement.
The territories’ three premiers made a commitment in 2019 to use a “collective voice” to raise northern concerns about climate change.
The premiers issued Monday’s statement in collaboration with Indigenous leaders across the North, the release added.
The three-page statement calls for “increased federal attention, support and investment” in seven areas, including building infrastructure that withstands climate change, more reliance on renewable energy sources and emergency preparedness.
It warns that climate change is creating barriers to accessing the land and says “self-sustaining wildlife populations” should be an objective.
The federal government must also recognize the importance of reconciliation through climate change by supporting Indigenous-led approaches and the incorporation of Indigenous knowledge wherever possible.
When did it change from ” GLOBAL WARMING” TO ” CLIMATE CHANGE” ?
They switch to “Climate Change” because it better reflects the realities of what’s happening. Yes, the oceans are warming, but the bigger impacts are the changing weather’s and more extreme storms due to the changing climate.
An equal part of climate change is colder winters, so to call it global “warming” when refering to colder winters sounds dumb.
The term “global warming,” which describes an increase in the Earth’s average temperature surface due to greenhouse gas emissions, is widely believed to have been coined in 1975 by Columbia University geochemist Wallace Broecker, according to NASA. Meanwhile, “climate change,” which describes a long-term change in the Earth’s climate, appeared a few years later in a 1979 National Academy of Science study on carbon dioxide.
So in order to fight climate change with alternative energy it requires tons and tons of mining..so does that mean Nunavut is going to open up and supply the bulk of the raw material or are we going to get it from the land of no environmental regulations?
No worries, Trudeau is banning plastic bags and making sure all vehicles will be electric by 2035. Problem solved.
Shameful: religious doctrine shouldn’t be spread using my tax dollars
Religious doctrine? what the actual f*** are you talking about? The idea that climate change is somehow an ideology or opinion has festered way too long.
I have no sympathy for any of this feckless whining and no more patience to pretend otherwise.
Dude, your time and effort would be better spent on infrastructure and in-person social programs. Waste of time
And the ‘call on Ottawa’ for everything. Employ your people, take the monies given to the territory, and do it yourself!
We have a limited imagination in Nunavut, solutions are always “top down” and the “top” is always Ottawa.
Can’t help but think that a “made in Nunavut” solution to climate change would somehow turn into more funding for the HTO’s and maybe even lead to some snowmobile raffles.
There are no made in Nunavut solutions to climate change, and if we are honest we will admit that traditional strategy was most often cultural and technological adaptation if possible, or moving somewhere new.
We do retain some traditional practice in the use of magic, however, invoking incantations and quasi-religious declarations around ‘indigenous knowledge’ knowing it is likely to materialize a bag or two of cash from Ottawa.
Feds controls the weather???