WHITEHORSE — Canada's territorial premiers are calling on the federal government to increase funding for clean energy projects and to adapt to climate change. 

Yukon Premier Sandy Silver, Nunavut Premier P.J. Akeeagok and Northwest Territories Premier Caroline Cochrane met in Whitehorse this week for their annual Northern Premiers’ Forum.

They said in a joint statement that Canada’s territories are warming up three to four times faster than the global average and it is already affecting communities.

As an example, during a news conference Monday following their meeting, Cochrane said communities along the Hay River in the Northwest Territories had been placed on evacuation alert or order due to flooding. She said 250 families had been evacuated so far.

The statement said climate change is causing growing concerns about food security, health, public safety, the resilience of infrastructure and preservation of cultural identity.

It said the territories are doing their part, but more federal collaboration and investment is needed to meet climate action targets.

"Caroline (Cochrane) has said this so many times in so many meetings, but no decisions about us without us, and that is extremely important when it comes to mitigating the effects of climate change," Silver said at the conference.

He said they have not yet determined how much federal funding will be needed.

"It's not necessarily a dollar value but it's a concept of baseline funding," he said.

The Yukon government said in a separate news release that all the decisions reached at the forum will be raised later this summer at the Western Premiers’ Conference and at the Council of the Federation, when all Canada's premiers gather. 

"It's time to make sure that the federal government and all premiers across Canada, and internationally, start putting their money where the buck is and start to address it properly," Cochrane said.

— By Brieanna Charlebois in Vancouver.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 9, 2022.

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This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Meta and Canadian Press News Fellowship.

The Canadian Press