Here's what N.W.T. delegates are taking away from COP28 this year

When Ramona Pearson headed to the U.N.'s annual climate change conference in Dubai, she was looking for something specific — solutions that would help remote N.W.T. communities deal with climate change. 

She refers to them as "backwards compatible solutions": ideas that are designed with larger countries and populations in mind, but that can be scaled down to work in smaller communities as well. 

Pearson represented both the Dehcho First Nations and the N.W.T.'s Climate Change Council at COP28 this year. The summit is expected to end Tuesday, but high-level negotiations have yet to lead to a final deal — highlighting deep divisions between countries over the potential phase-out of fossil fuels. 

The conference has featured pavilions set up by different regions and organizations. 

To Pearson, a lot of climate solutions being explored in bigger urban centres aren't compatible with small remote communities. She said that after searching the conference, she still hasn't found many that are. 

She said it was a "strange feeling." 

"I think it's because of the conversations that have started globally aren't really focused on remoteness," she said. "Remoteness seems to be a challenge that is often not explored because of this idea of affordability." 

Julian Kanigan is the associate deputy minister for environmental management, monitoring and climate change within the N.W.T. government, and was part of the delegation that attended this year's conference.

He recognizes solutions presented at COP28 don't always apply to the N.W.T. but said he can "often take the principle away" from the sessions he attends. An example, he said, was a presentation about measuring and financing climate change adaptation.

"You could be overwhelmed by that and think it doesn't apply to the N.W.T., but we are also looking for climate change adaptation and resilience indicators here in the territory," he said. "So we can take kind of the methodology back and then think through what makes sense for our own jurisdiction and what we need to do." 

Important for N.W.T. to be in the room

This year's conference took place during a period of change for the N.W.T. Legislative Assembly, and Kanigan said it had been a mandate of the previous government to send delegates. 

He said the territory sends people for three reasons: to meet with other jurisdictions and share best practices, to learn about the state of climate solutions, and to influence — as part of Canada's delegation — the higher-level negotiations that are unfolding. 

"It is important for the N.W.T. to be in the room, in order to hear what other delegates are saying," he said.

For example, understanding Canada's own commitments to pay for loss and damage in developing countries can help delegates understand the support Canada can provide to the N.W.T., too. 

One of the key takeaways for Kanigan this year has been about carbon and biodiversity credits. That's the idea people or organizations can invest money into keeping carbon stored in the ground, or into the protection of biodiverse areas. 

"It's something that the N.W.T. could benefit from in the future, because we have such great natural capital here," he said. "Definitely see links with some of the work that Indigenous governments are doing in the N.W.T. around Indigenous protected and conserved areas." 

Kanigan said Steven Nitah, the managing director of the non-profit Nature for Justice, and who helped negotiate the creation of Thaidene Nëné Indigenous Protected Area in N.W.T., spoke about this topic at the conference. 

But, Kanigan pointed out, "there's not a lot of northern Indigenous content there." 

That's another good reason to attend, he said. For the past several conferences, said Kanigan, someone representing Indigenous government has attended as part of the N.W.T.'s delegation. 

"She's got so many great ideas," he said, of Pearson. 

"We really value having and making sure that we're at COPs side-by-side with Indigenous government partners … so that we're hearing the same things and that we're presenting our views and realities to the world." 

It was Pearson's first time attending the conference, and she said experienced a bit of eco-anxiety at first because of intense messaging about a planet in crises. But she managed that by refocusing on her priorities and surrounding herself with others in the "community-led sphere." 

"When we really touch to the heart of community issues, that's when we start talking about real and practical solutions."