Opening Statement to News Conference—Climate Change in Nunavut

Climate Change in Nunavut Opening Statement to News Conference

James McKenzie, Principal, Office of the Auditor General of Canada—13 March 2018

Good afternoon. I am pleased to be here in Iqaluit today to discuss the Auditor General of Canada’s report on climate change in Nunavut. The report was tabled in the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut this afternoon.

In this audit, we wanted to know whether the Government of Nunavut had taken measures to prepare for and adapt to the impacts of climate change and taken measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Nunavut.

From reduced arctic sea ice to warming permafrost, the impacts of climate change are visible across Nunavut. We found that the Government of Nunavut was not adequately prepared to respond to these impacts.

We found that the government released a strategy to help Nunavut adapt to climate change. The government also released a strategy to manage Nunavut’s energy use with objectives to reduce the territory’s dependence on fossil fuels and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. However, the government did not have implementation plans that outlined when and how the objectives of these strategies would be met and who would be responsible for what. It also did not report publicly on the implementation of these strategies.

Implementation plans help ensure a coordinated approach to address climate change. Reporting on the implementation of these strategies supports transparency and helps hold the government accountable for results.

We also found that the Government of Nunavut did not fully assess the risks of climate change to Nunavut and Nunavummiut. Although the government’s adaptation strategy had identified the potential risks that climate change poses to Nunavut, the impacts or likelihood of those risks were not analyzed or ranked. The Department of Environment proposed a number of actions to better understand the risks of climate change, such as assessing the impacts of climate change on biodiversity, including on hunting and traditional ways of life. However, these actions were not done.

It is important to identify and rank climate risks to ensure that the government prioritizes what it needs to do and directs its actions and resources to the areas of highest risk.

In terms of actions taken to adapt to climate change, we found that the Department of Community and Government Services and the Nunavut Housing Corporation had measures in place to safeguard government buildings and public housing units from the impacts of climate change on permafrost. For example, these organizations conduct building assessments that cover features such as foundations that can be damaged by permafrost settlement or degradation. However, these assessments were not always carried out as scheduled.

Both organizations had also not consistently incorporated measures to manage snow and water around buildings to help prevent permafrost degradation into their operations and maintenance procedures.

Nunavut is entirely dependent on imported fossil fuels, such as diesel, to generate electricity and heat homes. We found that the Qulliq Energy Corporation, the Nunavut Housing Corporation, and the Department of Community and Government Services took actions to make power plants, public housing, and government buildings more energy efficient. We also found that the Qulliq Energy Corporation undertook studies to better understand the potential of renewable energy in Nunavut, such as wind and solar. However, factors such as high capital costs and technical challenges presented Nunavut with barriers to implementing renewable energy projects that would help reduce the territory’s greenhouse gas emissions and dependence on fossil fuels.

We made ten recommendations to the four organizations involved in this audit. They agreed with our recommendations.

This concludes my opening statement. I am happy to answer any questions you may have.