FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

UNCEDED xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (MUSQUEAM), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (SQUAMISH) AND səlilwətaɬ (TSLEIL-WAUTUTH) TERRITORIES/VANCOUVER – Sierra Club BC is calling on the B.C. government to demonstrate renewed climate leadership in response to the CleanBC review expected today.

Obstructed by petrostates like Saudi Arabia, the international community was unable to build on past UN pledges to “transition away from fossil fuels” and finalize a proposal for a global “roadmap” to phase out fossil fuels backed by most countries at the UN climate summit in Brazil.

“The lack of a roadmap to phase out fossil fuels in the final COP-30 agreement means that it is paramount for every jurisdiction in the world to take a leap of faith, act in accordance with climate science and keep hope for a stable climate alive. It’s not too late for B.C. to change course and leave fossil fuels in the ground. Our decisions today will decide about the world’s climate for thousands of years and countless future generations,” said Jens Wieting, senior policy and science advisor at Sierra Club BC.

The CleanBC review and the B.C. government response expected today will include recommendations on how the province can meet its climate targets, including transportation, buildings, oil and gas and other industrial sectors. LNG expansion is the biggest threat to provincial climate goals.

“B.C. and Canada approving and welcoming new fossil fuel megaprojects, locking in pollution for decades, is in direct violation of international commitments to transition away from fossil fuels, ignoring spectacular growth in cheaper renewable energy alternatives and severe warnings from economists about a rapidly developing fossil fuel glut caused by reduced demand,” said Shelley Luce, Campaigns Director at Sierra Club BC.

Through 2025, B.C. has cancelled or weakened key climate policies without replacing them with new ones and enabled a massive expansion of fossil fuel infrastucture, fracking, and climate pollution threatening provincial and international climate targets.

If all proposed LNG projects supported by B.C. and Canada (LNG Canada Phase 2, Ksi Lisims, Woodfibre, Cedar and Tilbury) go ahead, total oil and gas sector emissions released in B.C. and from burning exported LNG abroad will increase to about 160 million tonnes, 2.5 times B.C.’s current climate pollution levels.

In August, 34 non-governmental organizations from across British Columbia issued an open letter to Premier David Eby and the B.C. government, urging stronger climate action in light of an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that clarifies governments’ legal obligations to address climate change, shared in July 25. The B.C. government has still not responded to the letter.

Ensuring all sectors, including oil and gas, achieve their legislated provincial targets will require following through on the long overdue oil and gas pollution cap, stringent implementation of methane pollution regulation and targets, tightening the price on industrial carbon pollution and fully redirecting fossil fuel subsidies to climate solutions.

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