The Department of Infrastructure hosted a public session on the territory’s energy and climate future in the Caribou Room at Nova Hotel that started on Wednesday and wrapped up Friday.
The event was part of a public engagement and review process for the 2030 Energy Strategy and Climate Change Strategic Framework, five years after it was released in 2018, according to Darren Campbell, senior communications officer with the department.
He said the energy strategy serves as a guide to secure affordable and reliable energy in the Northwest Territories up to 2030, while the climate change strategic framework outlines actions to combat climate change. One of the main goals of both strategies is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 30 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030.
Campbell said the public engagement and review process will help determine if changes need to be made to these strategies. Representatives from community governments, Indigenous governments, Indigenous organizations, non-governmental organizations, academia, utilities, the federal government and the GNWT are in attendance.
“We’re here to listen and get all of… those perspectives from all of the people that have attended,” said Campbell. “And out of this, that will give us information to develop it. It’ll be an options paper for the next Government of the Northwest Territories.”
Campbell noted that a lot has changed since the strategy was released in 2018. The department is looking for input from partners and the public on whether the government needs to be more ambitious with its targets.
One objective of the energy strategy is to increase the amount of renewable energy used in the NWT. During the three-day event, there will also be discussions relating to the new technologies that can be used in the North, providing that they make sense economically, such as wind energy.
Campbell told Yellowknifer that the department is also exploring other new technologies such as mini hydroelectric dams in communities like Gameti. If feasible and affordable, this could help transition communities away from diesel power generation and towards renewable energy sources. Other power sources being studied include renewable diesel and hydrogen for transportation and electricity generation.
Robert Sexton, director of energy for the Department of Infrastructure and president of the board of directors for Arctic Energy Alliance, said there’s been talk this week about whether the NWT should aim to achieve net-zero emissions given the challenges associated with this goal.
He also addressed another hurdle facing the territory: how to position itself to benefit from the future low-carbon economy while ensuring sustainable outcomes. Sexton revealed that modelling shows that the Northwest Territories is on track to meet its emissions reduction target by 2030 but this is largely due to economic decline in mining. The department is exploring ways to support “green” mining powered by renewable or low-carbon electricity as a way to create jobs while reducing emissions.
”I can’t predict the future but certainly the move globally is to towards environmental social governance and you know it’s going to be increasingly difficult to get capital funding,” said Sexton.