New plan to reduce B.C. emissions promising, but more regulations needed sooner

VANCOUVER, BC (Unceded Coast Salish Territories) — Earlier today, the B.C. Government announced its plan to backstop the federal cap on emissions for 2026. It comes on the heels of the government’s approval of a new LNG tanker and ship fueling industrial project, known as the Tilbury Marine Jetty in Delta B.C. along the Fraser River. 

“Gas is B.C.’s biggest climate problem, and a cap on emissions is a good step that needed to be implemented yesterday, not in 2026,” said Kiki Wood, Senior Oil and Gas Campaigner for Stand.earth. “Announcing this backstop immediately after approving a new LNG tanker and ship fueling dock is like turning off the tap after the bathroom has flooded. The plan announced today was initially intended to be implemented this year. Now B.C. residents will have to wait until 2026, through a provincial and federal election before benefiting from additional emissions reductions policies. We need a safe, equitable, and sustainable transition away from fossil fuels which provides opportunities for workers in the industry while looking out for local communities, and we need it now.”

The latest IPCC report was clear that world leaders must move beyond fossil fuel production in order to keep temperatures from rising above the dangerous threshold of 1.5°C.

Continued expansion of gas infrastructure, such as the Tilbury tanker dock – an integral component of the Tilbury LNG expansion project – will lock B.C. into future emissions. The Tilbury LNG expansion could add as much pollution to B.C.’s air annually as the entire city of Vancouver, lock shipping into dangerous levels of methane pollution, and would require drilling thousands of new fracking wells in order to supply it with fracked gas.

Stand.earth is calling on the provincial government to truly commit to an energy transition that moves away from fossil fuel projects and to invest in real climate solutions.

###

Media contacts:

KiKi Wood, Senior Oil and Gas Campaigner, +1 604-757-7030 (Pacific Time)

Cari Barcas, Communications Director, +1 312-720-7940 (Eastern Time)