December 3, 2014
The following statement was given today in the House of Assembly by the Honourable Dan Crummell, Minister Responsible for the Office of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency:
Climate Information Portal on Community Accounts Available Online
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in this Honourable House as the Minister Responsible for the Office of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency to announce the launch of a new climate information portal as part of our Community Accounts website. The portal has been developed in partnership with the Department of Finance and responds to the growing need for decision-makers to have access to climate information so they can factor climate change considerations into their planning.
Mr. Speaker, the Community Accounts website was launched in 2002 to ensure the people of our province can make evidence-based decisions using high-quality community and regional information.
Community Accounts is an innovative, web-based tool that provides users with reliable sources of data. Users can find important information about health, income, education, literacy and labour markets in the province, as well as key demographic information.
Mr. Speaker, through the launch of the new climate information portal on this website, residents of Newfoundland and Labrador now have access to historical weather data at a community and regional level for the first time. This data, which includes temperature, precipitation and wind data, is collected from over 70 Environment Canada weather stations throughout the province and is invaluable when governments, businesses and organizations make decisions concerning land use planning, municipal zoning, disaster mitigation planning and infrastructure design. This information will allow students to better understand how climate change is affecting them and their communities.
Mr. Speaker, our government recognizes rising global temperatures are causing climates throughout the world to change, and this is having a significant impact on businesses, communities and governments at every level. By ensuring community leaders, engineers, emergency planning agencies, governments and other stakeholders have access to up-to-date, high-quality data we are helping ensure the decisions made today incorporate the best possible information about how our climate is changing.
In our 2011 Climate Change Action Plan, Mr. Speaker, we committed to improving Newfoundland and Labrador’s resilience to climate change. As weather patterns are changing, new risks and opportunities are emerging that can affect every economic sector and community in our province. Our government remains committed to ensuring our province is equipped with the information and tools needed to minimize these risks and maximize these opportunities. To explore the new climate information portal of Community Accounts, I encourage members to visit nl.communityaccounts.ca/climate 
.
Thank you.