B.C. wins COP26 climate award, but will plan to reduce emissions actually work?
After B.C. received an international award at the COP26 climate conference, the government sent out a news release to congratulate itself – but observers warn any celebration may be premature.
David Austin is a lawyer with Stirling LLP who specializes in energy. He pointed out the award was for an industrial emissions reduction program that we don't know works.
"There's a lot of patting on the back right now in British Columbia but all it is, is an award for a part of a plan," he told CTV News in an interview.
When it comes to CleanBC, the province's current plan to tackle climate change, Austin said until emission reductions are realized, it's still just a goal.
"We have plans," he added. "But in terms of our ability to execute on plans, we have failed."
In 2007, B.C.'s greenhouse gas emissions were 65.7 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (MtCO2e), the baseline most jurisdictions are trying to measure against. In 2019, B.C. emitted 68.6 MtCo2e – a five per cent increase.
When former premier Gordon Campbell brought forward climate change policy, including a carbon tax, the goal was to reduce B.C.'s emissions by a third compared to 2007 levels.
That has environmentalists like Peter McCartney, a senior climate campaigner with the Wilderness Committee wondering why the province insists on propping up a liquified natural gas industry that relies on fracking.
"We cannot take any more half-measures on climate change. This government needs to recognize that the fossil fuel industry is the one causing the emissions," McCartney told CTV News.
He acknowledged the emissions would be higher if governments hadn't introduced policies. Yet he noted emissions are still increasing and there's a need to bring them down – and quick.
That's a message echoed at the UN Climate Change Conference by president Alok Sharma.
"My priority now is pace. There needs to be a sense of urgency in all our negotiations," Sharma told delegates.
At a recent workshop, B.C.'s environment minister said the province's CleanBC plan has specific targets for industries, and some goals are expected to be achieved earlier than initially thought.
George Heyman told delegates, "We know British Columbians expect strong action, we know that we can do it in British Columbia while maintaining a healthy economy."
Yet B.C.'s inconvenient truth is that none of the reductions targets ever set have been realized.
Heyman's comments and the government's view of its climate plan sound eerily similar to what Gordon Campbell told CTV News in 2009.
"I don't think there's any place in North America or any place that I’m aware of that's had a comprehensive a program to deal with the challenge of climate change, as we have in B.C.," he said at the time.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
OPP responds to apparent video of officer supporting anti-Trudeau government protestors
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it's investigating an interaction between a uniformed officer and anti-Trudeau government protestors after a video circulated on social media.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Loud boom in Hamilton caused by propane tank, police say
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.