Sierra Club BC calls on Premier to do climate math: LNG doesn’t square with emissions targets

As Premier Horgan prepares to depart for Asia to woo members of the consortium behind the LNG Canada proposal, Sierra Club BC is warning that BC can’t build new LNG plants and meet emissions targets.

The Premier has indicated he will meet with KoGas, Mitsubishi and PetroChina, all members of the LNG Canada consortium, during his trip to Asia. Shell Canada is also a member of the LNG Canada consortium.

“If LNG Canada goes ahead, it alone could account for more than three quarters of B.C.’s allowable emissions in 2050,” said Sierra Club BC’s forest and climate campaigner Jens Wieting. “No matter what government is in power, exporting liquefied fracked gas to Asia will make it impossible for BC to meet our legislated climate targets; the math simply doesn’t add up.”

According to the Pembina Institute, under current policies, LNG Canada’s emissions would total 9.6 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2050. British Columbia’s emissions target in 2050 is 12.6 million tonnes.

“We know, due to years of climate inaction by the previous government, that B.C. needs to act fast to meet our 2020 target,” said Wieting. “Promoting LNG is either misleading LNG corporations into believing their projects can proceed within climate laws, or it’s misleading British Columbians who elected a government promising climate action.

“We can fool ourselves but not the climate: fracked gas is a recipe to deepen the climate crisis. Only last week, a draft report by the United Nations warned that we need a profound shift away from fossil fuels to avoid blowing past the 1.5°C temperature increase limit aspired to in the Paris climate agreement by mid-century.”

Economists such as the Governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, have been warning energy companies of the risk that fossil fuels may become stranded, worthless assets as a result of needed climate action.

“Real climate action cannot be delayed anymore. With renewable energy increasingly competitive and climate impacts increasingly catastrophic, British Columbians are no longer willing to accept inaction. Climate leadership means soliciting investments in clean energy infrastructure, not LNG.”

The Premier’s mandate letter to environment and climate change strategy minister George Heyman instructs him to “implement a comprehensive climate action strategy” to meet “carbon pollution reduction targets.”

B.C.’s emissions have been increasing since 2010. In 2015 they were only two percent below 2007 levels, with only two years left to meet the 2020 target to reduce emissions by 33 per cent. The government said it will go ahead with a new target to reduce emissions by 40 per cent in 2030 compared to 2007.

For more information: BC’s greenhouse gas emissions have risen in four of the last five years

-30-

Contact:
Jens Wieting
Forest and Climate Campaigner
Sierra Club BC
C: (604)354-5312