Dawson Climate Change Adaptation Plan, Revised ... - Yukon College

Dawson Climate Change Adaptation PlanNEXT STEPS AND CONCLUSIONSSome selected adaptations will be implemented as a component of the Dawson AdaptationProject with funding from the Northern Strategy Trust. These projects will be selected bythe Dawson Local Advisory Committee. To ensure the selection of relevant and successfulimplementation projects, the Local Advisory Committee prepared the following terms ofreference:• Have broad appeal.• Have high visibility.• Have high relevance/utility.• Produce readily measurable results.• Reduce the carbon footprint of the community, or have a minimal footprint.• Leverage other funding.• Attract partners.• Be built upon later.• Provide local employment.• Tie into and/or build upon existing plans.• Increase local resilience.• Use local resources and materials.• Be characterized by financial sustainability that continues past the implementationdeadline (July 2010).Projects will be implemented from August 2009 to June 2010 by the Dawson AdaptationCoordinator. A full implementation report will be provided at the conclusion of theimplementation period in summer 2010.Mainstreaming Climate Change in the CommunityMainstreaming climate change is the integration of climate change into standard planningprocedures. Many of the adaptations identified in this plan can be integrated into other plandevelopments or updates. Specifically, the planning team has identified how climate change mayinfluence a future update of the Dawson official community plan, as well as influence sectorssuch as emergency response, fire management, infrastructure and land-use planning in theregion.Addressing Uncertainty and Climate Change in the Dawson RegionWhile this report has made every attempt to assess uncertainty associated with the identifiedclimate change consequences, every effort should still be made to increase our knowledgeof how climate change may affect us. The project team suggests that integrating climatechange mitigation and adaptation efforts will likely result in a more confident action strategyby providing a solid rational for decisions, in addition to providing the balanced and effectiveresponse to climate change suggested by the IPCC. We have also found that increasedmonitoring and research is desperately needed in Dawson and the whole of Yukon.5