Minister of Environment Nils Clarke and Minister of Energy, Mines and Resources John Streicker, Director of the Climate Change Secretariat with the Department of Environment, Rebecca Turpin and Director of the Energy Branch with the Department of Energy, Mines and Resources, Shane Andre at the fourth annual update of the Our Clean Future plan. Photo Courtesy of Macklen Linke/CKRW.
Whitehorse, YT – Yukon’s overall greenhouse gas emissions rose in 2022 from the previous decade but Yukon Government officials stated during the fourth annual update on the Our Clean Future plan that an emissions rise was to be expected.
Overall emissions in 2022 rose 10 percent compared to 2010 but per capita emissions dropped by 12 percent, indicating that the rise in overall emissions wasn’t tied to population growth.
Energy, Mines and Resources Minister John Streicker credits the emissions rise partially due to recovering from COVID-19 but notes the decline is a good sign.
“The decoupling of our greenhouse gas emissions from population and economic growth is a positive sign that our efforts to start reducing emissions are working,” said Minister Streicker.
As part of the “Our Clean Future” plan, the government is investing heavily in clean energy and climate adaptation initiatives, with plans to reduce emissions by 45 percent below 2010 levels by 2030 and reach net zero by 2050.
Key initiatives include the installation of four off-grid solar arrays and energy retrofits on 31 government buildings. More than 340 zero-emission vehicles are now registered in Yukon and fast chargers are available across the territory. Additionally, over 170 high-performance retrofits and smart heating device installations occurred.
Shane Andre, Energy Branch Director at the Department of Energy Mines and Resources says the actions may start slow but grow quickly over time.
“I think all of our actions are more or less on track as to where we thought they would be, but they all have adoption curves that start small and grow larger over time. So electric vehicles, heat pumps, you name it, they all sort of start slow and grow quickly.”
The Yukon Government has completed 68 out of 178 of the plan’s actions, with 105 ongoing or in progress.
