Sierra Club BC reaction to 2026 BC Budget
Photo by Mya Van Woudenberg/SCBC.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sierra Club BC Senior Policy & Science Advisor Jens Wieting offers the following statement:
“Today’s budget is deeply worrying for everyone who cares about future generations. Continued emphasis on resource extraction priorities at the expense of climate solutions and Indigenous-led nature conservation is short-sighted and will lead to unmanageable damages and costs in the future.”
“Budget 2026 includes no new funding to protect endangered ecosystems like old-growth forests and habitat of at-risk species, or getting us closer to the promised provincial biodiversity law.
“It also doesn’t show how much of the $1 billion destined for conservation commitments that was announced in 2023 has been spent or how much remains. This is important information if the B.C. government plans to keep its promise to double protection to 30 percent by 2030.
”The budget doesn’t include new funding tied to a revised CleanBC plan to meet B.C.’s climate goals. New policies and funding are urgently needed in response to the CleanBC review, after a year of provincial backtracking on climate action and policies like the consumer carbon tax, the 2030 net-zero requirement for LNG terminals, and EV rebates.
“There is no reason for B.C. to respond to U.S. threats by giving up on international commitments to take climate action and protect nature. Climate and conservation solutions are readily available, deliver greater economic benefits than yesterday’s boom-and-bust industries, and support a diverse economy, health, safety and well-being.”
-30-
Background
Last week, the Canadian Climate Institute warned that Canada was not on track to meet any of its climate targets, and had only achieved a 9 % reduction in emissions compared to 2005, while all other G7 countries have averaged a 30 % reduction. B.C. is behind Canada. If the B.C. government continues on its current course of backtracking on climate, we are not even trying to meet our targets. Learn more here.
Last month, the UK’s government intelligence chiefs warned that collapse of globally vitally important ecosystems would bring mass migration, food shortages, price rises, and global disorder. The assessment highlights Canada’s forests as one of the world’s critical ecosystems and calls for 30% protection by 2030 as one an essential action to avert havoc. Learn more here.
Media contacts
Jens Wieting, Senior Policy and Science Advisor | Sierra Club BC
jens@sierraclub.bc.ca