City of Whitehorse releases latest draft climate action plan

The City of Whitehorse is collecting feedback on the latest draft of its climate action plan.

The draft being released is revised from the version published last spring. The public will have until June 20 to offer feedback on the plan before it is presented to city council in the fall.

The plan aims to align with the International Panel on Climate Change’s target of keeping global temperature increase at 1.5 C. In order to hit this target, according to the plan, the city would have to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

The plan focuses on adaptation and mitigation in terms of climate strategies: adaptation refers to preparing for the consequences of climate change, whereas mitigation refers to reducing or eliminating greenhouse-gas emissions. The two aren’t mutually exclusive.

The draft climate action plan focuses on multiple spheres within the city’s scope: transportation systems within the city, buildings and infrastructure, waste, nature and greenspace, emergency management, corporate leadership, and community education and engagement.

Each section has multiple commitments, each one detailed with potential timelines and costs.

Commitments across the board include developing a community wildfire protection plan, improving the public transit experience, improving the active transportation network and ensuring there are public drinking water fountains for episodes of extreme heat.

The plan also paints a stark picture of what Whitehorse could look like should these commitments in be ignored in favour of the status quo.

If that’s the case, by the 2050s, there could be 6.3 days annually with temperatures of 30 C or higher (up from the historic rate of less than a day). There would be more heatwaves, more precipitation, more extreme rain, and a doubling of wildfire occurrence and area burned by wildfire. The hallmark -30 C days of Yukon winter would be virtually eliminated by the 2080s.

Already, the city has struggled with changing climate: when announcing the city’s 2025 to 2028 budget, Mayor Kirk Cameron linked the Robert Service Way landslides to climate change.

A Stantec-prepared memo — affixed to the plan as appendix D — identified the ways in which climate change has already affected the city, as well as the potential effects foreseeable. The memo was prepared over the course of December 2023 and January 2024.

Heavy snow accumulation has already presented a concern for the roof of the Canada Games Centre, reads the memo: “previous increased loading events have caused stretching of the membrane.”

The wetter winters and warmer springs have caused the escarpment slumping and landslides, which can close down the roads at the bottom of the cliffs. Hotter summers are placing higher demand on city resources like splash pads.

The “unprecedented” freeze-thaw cycles of recent years have made roads and trails more icy in the winter.

The biggest concern of the future for city staff Stantec interviewed is wildfire.

The Riverdale aquifer is a primary concern in case of wildfire: “a wildfire impacting the Riverdale aquifer could potentially result in the loss of water supply to the city.” The KBL Environmental Services hazardous waste disposal facility is also a zone of concern in case of wildfire.

Furthermore, if the wildfire comes from the south, or is especially large, the ability for city to evacuate is cause of concern. Other cities in the territory, like Dawson City, plainly do not have the capacity to accept the entire population of Whitehorse in case of a city-wide evacuation.

The city’s capacity is also a reason for concern: Whitehorse depends on the Alaska Highway for food and fuel. The city is in an infrastructure deficit, with most infrastructure at the end of its useful life.

The Lewes Boulevard bridge — which provides access to Riverdale and the hospital — presents a chokepoint for emergency services and evacuations. The bridge was also identified as being highly vulnerable to climate change, as were other pieces of city infrastructure like roads, the water treatment plant and distribution network, the wastewater treatment plant and network, among others.

People can share their thoughts on this draft of the climate action plan via the city’s online survey, accessible through Engage Whitehorse. Information sessions are also taking place on June 5 and 12 at the Fireweed Market at Shipyards Park.

Contact Talar Stockton at talar.stockton@yukon-news.com