The B.C. government admits it won’t meet its 2030 goal for carbon emission reductions.
Energy Minister Adrian Dix released the province’s annual climate change accountability report, which showed B.C. is making progress, but not enough.
“We can expect, according to the report … overall emissions to decline by 20 per cent by 2030, relative to 2007, the base year for BC’s climate goals, which is short of our ambitious target of 40 per cent,” Dix said.
While B.C. won’t meet its target, Dix said emissions per capita and per dollar of economic growth had declined.
“When we launched the CleanBC roadmap, it was an ambitious plan based on the data available at the time,” he added. “Our population, of course, has grown significantly, our economy is stronger. And that means an increased demand for energy, and [an] increased need to have more renewable resources.”
Dix also announced Tuesday that British Columbia would be following the federal government’s lead and pausing its electric vehicle rebate to “consider the next best steps.”
It comes after the province scrapped its consumer carbon tax, and as the government conducts a full review of its CleanBC program — a stipulation included in the NDP’s deal with the BC Green Party to cement its razor-thin majority.
“We have work to do. There is a lot of talk right now about declining support for actions on climate change,” Dix said.
“I don’t believe that’s the case. I believe we can work together and we need to build programs that build on public support.”