Question Period Note: Climate Change Adaptation and Clean Energy

•The government is working with Indigenous and northern communities to support climate change adaptation, advance Indigenous Climate Leadership, and help Northern communities shift to renewable sources of energy.

•The National Adaptation Strategy provided an additional $50 million over four years starting in 2023-2024 to enhance support for Indigenous adaptation projects and priorities through CIRNAC’s existing climate adaptation programs.

• Since 2017, these programs have supported 49 wildfire and emergency preparedness projects across Indigenous and northern communities with investments of approximately $9.3 million.

•Budget 2022 reaffirmed Canada’s commitment to supporting Indigenous self-determination on climate action, by providing $29.6 million to advance the co-development of an Indigenous Climate Leadership Agenda with First Nation, Inuit, and Métis governments and representative organizations.

Additional Background Information

Climate change impacts in Indigenous and northern communities
Indigenous and northern communities are already experiencing the significant and complex impacts of climate change on every aspect of their lives, and are the most in need of adaptation support. Unprecedented changes in temperature, precipitation, sea ice, glaciers, permafrost, freshwater availability, ecosystem dynamics, oceans, and sea level exacerbate existing challenges and health stressors across communities.
The overlapping impacts of climate change are especially apparent in the North as is evident in the northernmost Inuit hamlet of Grise Fiord. For example, the community, which is located along a narrow strip of land between the ocean and a glacier, is experiencing coastal erosion accelerated by reduced sea-ice extent and permafrost melt which is threatening infrastructure and roads. In addition, the community’s freshwater source, the Brume glacier, is retreating with run-off from the glacier menacing landslides and flooding in the community. Beyond the physical impacts, Indigenous communities are also experiencing impacts to food security due to changing animal migration patterns and un-safe travel conditions over sea ice. When animals are no longer available to hunt and fish, or accessing them becomes too dangerous, cultural and spiritual practices linked to these activities are also compromised which can have an effect on the survival of the culture and language in the long term.
Indigenous communities also face challenges in ensuring a safe, reliable, and affordable supply of energy. This challenge is even more significant in Indigenous and northern communities that rely on diesel for heating and electricity generation. Climate change will place additional stress on all Indigenous and northern infrastructure, including energy systems and already vulnerable supply chains. Increasing volatility in both the price and availability of fuel supplies will also place these communities at greater risk and increase financial contributions required by the federal government. Fuel transportation costs will continue to increase due to winter road failures and other climate change impacts.
CIRNAC climate change programming
CIRNAC’s suite of five climate change adaptation and clean energy programs have been recognized as best practices for working with Indigenous Peoples on climate change by ECCC and the AFN. They are:
o First Nation Adapt – funding for climate change adaptation assessments including flood maps in First Nations south of the 60th parallel with an emphasis on impacts to infrastructure and emergency management.
o Climate Change Preparedness in the North – climate change adaptation program for Indigenous and northern communities in the three territories and four Inuit regions with funding for small scale implementation of adaptation measures.
o Indigenous Community-Based Climate Monitoring – distinctions-based for climate monitoring in Indigenous communities across the country.
o Northern REACHE – funding for the planning and construction of renewable energy and energy efficiency projects and related capacity building in the three territories and four Inuit regions.
o Engaging Indigenous Peoples in Climate Policy – funding for the participation of the National Indigenous Organizations at bilateral distinctions-based senior-level tables with the Government of Canada with additional funding for non-affiliated groups to participate in climate change policy discussions.

These programs aim to empower Indigenous Peoples and northerners to take a leadership role in climate action through participation in policy and programming. Projects are community-led, build capacity and skills and yield economic opportunities for communities.
Indigenous Climate Leadership
Canada’s Strengthened Climate Plan committed to support Indigenous Climate Leadership which invests in the agency of Indigenous communities and rights holders and supports self-determined Indigenous climate action on adaptation and mitigation. The Emissions Reduction Plan released in March 2022 committed $29.6 million over three years to advance this work.
Starting in 2022-23, CIRNAC is working with Environment and Climate Change Canada to co-develop with Inuit, Métis and First Nations an agenda for climate action and framework for collaboration on climate policy and climate programming. Funding will also support Indigenous-led climate strategies.
The Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Minister of Environment and Climate Change Canada jointly lead this initiative.
Opportunities and constraints for renewable energy development
Besides the high risks and costs associated with supplying fuel to northern and Indigenous communities, burning diesel fuel presents a number of environmental, social and economic challenges, including, but not limited to, greenhouse gas emissions, risks of fuel leaks and spills from storage facilities, and energy security issues (i.e., reliance on uncertain availability of seasonal roads, barges, etc). These challenges drive the need for programming targeted at reducing energy consumption and developing clean energy projects within these communities.
Improving energy efficiency and deploying clean energy technologies such as hydro, wind and solar diversifies the energy mix in remote communities. Energy efficiency and conservation measures reduce overall energy demand and can provide significant savings to communities ahead of adding new generation capacity. While renewable energy sources, some of which are intermittent such as wind and solar, cannot completely replace diesel consumption, they can displace it in part to reduce the negative impacts of diesel generation while also creating opportunities for local skills development, job creation, and economic development.
CIRNAC Investment in Clean Energy
Budget 2021 invested $40 million over three years, starting in 2021-22, to support feasibility and planning of hydroelectricity and grid interconnection projects in the North. This funding has advanced projects, such as the Atlin Hydro Expansion Project in Yukon and the Kivalliq Hydro-Fibre Link Project in Nunavut. These projects will provide clean power to northern communities and help reduce emissions from mining projects.

In December 2020, $300 million was allocated under the Strengthened Climate Plan to help transition Indigenous and remote communities to clean energy. CIRNAC has worked with Natural Resources Canada and Indigenous Services Canada, as well as with Infrastructure Canada and Environment and Climate Change Canada to stand up Wah-ila-toos, the Indigenous and Remote Communities Clean Energy Hub that streamlines community access to those funds and related energy programming.

Under the Pan-Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change, Budget 2016 provided $10.7 million over two years starting in 2016-17 to Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada to implement the Northern Responsible Energy Approach for Community Heat and Electricity Program (Northern REACHE program). Program funding was renewed in Budget 2017 for $53.5 million over ten years starting in 2018-19, and $5.4 million per year ongoing starting in 2028-29.
CIRNAC's Northern REACHE program provides funding for planning and construction of renewable energy and energy efficiency projects, and related capacity-building and planning in Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Nunavik, and Nunatsiavut. The objective of the program is to reduce diesel fuel use for electricity and heating and to build capacity within northern communities, governments, and organizations to support the development and long-term operation and maintenance of clean energy projects.
 

If pressed on the transition of Indigenous and remote communities to clean energy and Wah-ila-toos

• The Government is committed to supporting northern and remote Indigenous communities transition from diesel to clean, renewable and reliable energy through Budget 2023.

• Canada’s Strengthened Climate Plan and Budget 2021 delivered $40.4 million to support feasibility and planning of hydroelectricity and grid interconnection projects in the North, as well as $300 million to transition Indigenous and remote communities from diesel to clean, renewable and reliable energy.

• To deliver this funding, the Government has established Wah-ila-toos – a single-window initiative to better support communities in accessing federal funding and expertise to support their self-determined clean energy priorities.

If pressed on Indigenous Climate Leadership

• The Government has committed to co-developing an Indigenous Climate Leadership Agenda that ensures First Nations, Inuit, and Métis have the resources and authorities necessary to take self-determined action on climate change.

• CIRNAC is working with Environment and Climate Change Canada and Indigenous partners across Canada to co-develop this Agenda. Distinctions-based funding is being provided to over 30 national and regional Indigenous partners.

• The Agenda builds on work outlined in Canada’s Strengthened Climate Plan, Emissions Reduction Plan, and National Adaptation Strategy and will ensure that climate actions led by Indigenous peoples are the cornerstone of Canada’s response to a changing climate.