May 2000 Workshop:
Taking Action on Climate Change in the Yukon
Executive Summary
On May 15-17, 2000, the Northern Climate ExChange hosted a workshop and public information session called "Taking Action on Climate Change in the Yukon". Over 70 people attended the workshop and 65 the public information session. The purpose of the workshop was to involve First Nations, communities, industry, scientists, educators and government in developing a vision to deal with climate change issues in the Yukon. Participants were asked to identify needs and develop options to address climate change, and to assess priorities for action. The main objective of the workshop was to define the role of the Northern Climate ExChange, and other agencies/organizations, in developing and carrying out this plan.
The workshop consisted of the following components:
- Presentations (to set the stage for the breakout group discussions);
- Breakout group sessions (to provide participants with an opportunity to identify needs and discuss options for taking action on climate change in the Yukon);
- Summary of breakout group sessions (to summarize the results of the breakout group sessions for discussion amongst all participants of the workshop);
- Wrap-up session (to revisit the main objective of this workshop, which was to define the role of the Northern Climate ExChange);
- Public information session (to present traditional and scientific perspectives on observations of climate change impacts in the Yukon to the general public).
Some of the recommendations on the role of the Northern Climate ExChange from the workshop are as follows:
- The NCE should be a catalyst for climate change knowledge and awareness and be a central source of information with respect to climate change initiatives.
- The NCE should allow for various tiers of access (levels of detail and manners of presentation) when providing information.
- The NCE should bring together experts and decision-makers to develop strategies to reduce our vulnerability to climate change impacts and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
- The NCE should track industries, sectors and ecosystems that are being affected by current climatic variations and promote dialogue with resource managers and stakeholder groups to identify and encourage the development of adaptation strategies to address emerging issues.
- The NCE should thoroughly investigate the nature of information required to address climate change impacts and adaptation issues across the north.
- The NCE should liaise with existing partnership processes and stakeholder groups to foster partnerships and put climate change into existing consultation processes in an efficient manner, and play a facilitative role to generate consensus in the community on difficult adaptation questions.
- The NCE needs to develop a model for how to finance the centre into the future as continuity of the Northern Climate ExChange is expected and assumed. Given the long-term nature of the issues surrounding climate change impacts, it is very important to ensure there is are long term commitments, goals and vision.
Along with recommendations for the Northern Climate ExChange, workshop participants also had some specific recommendations for governments, communities, industry, and researchers. Firstly, governments should consider climate change in management agreements for natural resources and environmental impact assessments for development projects, and should encourage and support community-based monitoring and archiving programs. Communities should participate in monitoring programs and begin discussing strategies for adapting local infrastructure to a change in climate. Private sector industries such as forestry, transportation, mining, construction and oil and gas should include climate change considerations in research, planning and design of projects such as pipelines, dams and tailing ponds. Lastly, researchers should consider developing a centralized archive of data relating to climate change and consider community needs in the design of research programs.
Although climate change is a global issue, it has important regional dimensions. The creation of the Northern Climate Exchange provides a new opportunity for Northerners to learn more about climate change, and to contribute their knowledge so that a regional response to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and minimize our vulnerability to climate change impacts, can be developed. The NCE experiment, if successful, may serve as a model for other regions (national and international) to move uncertain science forward into consensus action.