Canada’s three territorial leaders agree that a carbon tax would prompt the high cost of living in the North to soar even further, and say they will look for alternative ways to bring down greenhouse gas emissions.

Climate change was on the agenda when the premiers of the Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut met in Dawson City and Old Crow late last week for the two-day Northern Premiers’ Forum.

The trio called on government leaders in the South to be sensitive to the northern context.

They did so as they stood at the bank of the Yukon River in Dawson last Thursday. The waterway had broken up the week before – the earliest breakup on record.

Darrell Pasloski of the Yukon, Bob McLeod of Northwest Territories and Peter Taptuna from Nunavut all acknowledged that climate change is acute in the North.

The Yukon, for example, is warming at twice the rate of the rest of Canada, according to a 2015 Yukon College report on the indicators of climate change in the territory.

This puts the Yukon at an increased risk of flooding, forest fires and infestations of invasive species. The trend also threatens food security in communities that count on a predictable supply of game animals and fish.

But a carbon tax too would disproportionately impact the territories, said the premiers.

Most goods must be shipped up from the South, and across vast distances, by truck or airplane, they pointed out.

“We all agree that we have to do our part ... we just have to realize that we have to address regional differences,” Pasloski told a Friday press conference capping off the meeting of territorial premiers in Old Crow.

Carbon pricing is meant to change people’s habits, Pasloski said. But in the North, “you can’t decide to just leave your car at home and get on a subway.”

The Yukon premier has stated repeatedly that a levy at the pumps would make everything in the territory more expensive. (Two weeks ago, as global oil prices rose, Whitehorse drivers absorbed a hike from 99 cents to $1.04 for a litre of regular gasoline.)

Nunavut’s Taptuna stressed that a carbon tax would put “a lot of strain” on his territory’s fragile economy.

“If (a carbon tax) ever happens to Nunavut, you’ll see a price increase overnight; we want to make sure that our provincial partners understand that fully,” he said.

The territories must be allowed flexibility in how they reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, he said.

Taptuna said that there is no hydro power in Nunavut, and that all communities in his territory rely on energy generated through burning diesel.

He said Nunavut can be more fuel-efficient, but it needs the dollars from Ottawa.

“Some of these engines (in Nunavut) are over 60 years old, so to become more effective and create less greenhouse gas emissions, we do need modernization and a lot of help from our federal partners,” said Taptuna.

The cost of living in Nunavut is already much higher than in the rest of Canada, he said.

Nutritious food is at a premium. As well, there is a severe housing shortage – about 3,000 new homes are needed right now, according to Taptuna – as building supplies and much labour must be brought up from Ontario or Quebec.

It costs three times what it does in Toronto to build housing in Nunavut, the president and CEO of the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. said last month in his speech to the Yukon and Whitehorse Chambers of Commerce.

McLeod said his territory is similarly sensitive to changes in gas prices.

“I’ve told the prime minister and all the premiers that we’ve been able to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions significantly without carbon pricing,” he said.

Indeed, the Northwest Territories brought down its emissions 30 per cent from 2001 levels according to a 2015 territorial government report, in part by investing in solar and wind energy.

Though he is not in favour of carbon pricing, McLeod is not unequivocally opposed to it either.

He said he appreciates Alberta’s carbon pricing model.

“I also like what Alberta has indicated... they’re not going to implement it uniformly across the province so communities that have no economic development would be exempt.”

Alberta will institute a $20-per tonne (or 4.49 cents per litre of gasoline) carbon tax in 2017, and will increase it to $30 a tonne in 2018.

However, fuel used for certain operations won’t be subject to the new tax.

For example, fuel purchased on reserves for use by First Nations individuals and bands, fuel used for farming, and biofuels such as ethanol, will be exempt.

“We could institute a carbon price in certain sectors, but we will go and talk to our population about it,” said McLeod.

The nation’s premiers and the prime minister committed to transition Canada to a low-carbon economy at a meeting in Vancouver in March.

Government leaders identified “carbon pricing mechanisms adapted to each province’s and territory’s specific circumstances,” as an emissions reduction tool that required serious consideration.

Four working groups were set up to determine actions provinces and territories can take regionally to combat climate change.

These groups will report back at the next first ministers’ meeting in October.

Their recommendations will inform a “pan-Canadian framework for clean growth and climate change.”