Northwest Territories Geological Survey

Global investors and resource companies increasingly seek to avoid the risks of using carbon based energy. Today, investment decisions on mineral development are not driven by economics alone. Issues that affect social licence—climate change chief among them—are equally prominent.

Globally, there’s a growing intolerance among financial institutions, investors, mining companies and the public for materials that have large carbon footprints.

The risk of growing international opposition to high-carbon projects, that rely on diesel or LNG increasingly flashes red in the board rooms of global resource companies. It is simply smarter and safer for them to avoid risking their global social licence and invest in places with competitive carbon-free energy.

The North must address the risks of carbon based energy if it wants to attract major mining companies with the capacity to develop multi-generational projects.

If the NWT and Nunavut are to continue to open their geology to mineral exploration and development they must bring alternatives such as hydro and tidal power to their territories.