BC likely won’t meet 2020 emission reduction targets: auditor general
Posted February 15, 2018 3:44 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VICTORIA (NEWS 1130) – It looks as if our province won’t meet 2020 emission reduction targets after all, according to a new report looking at climate change from the auditor general.
“Climate change is one of the greatest challenges the world is facing,” Carol Bellringer says. “Natural disasters continue to make headlines across the globe, and here in British Columbia, we’re also feeling the impacts of climate change.”
Her audit finds the provincial government doesn’t have a plan to move forward on this issue, and will likely face more problems with wildfires, floods and drought.
“We also found gaps in climate data throughout the province. There are fewer climate monitoring stations in the North of the province and at high elevations. As well, there is a need for more monitoring on small rivers and streams.”
When it comes to dealing challenges related to disasters like floods, she says the province may not be able to manage increased risks. “We found a number of challenges with the current approach, including distributed roles and responsibilities, a lack of staffing in technical capacity within the provincial and local governments, outdated flood plane maps, and limited incentives for local governments to take action.”
She adds wildfire prevention activities are also not sufficient when it comes to prevention and research of climate change impacts on wildfires.
“The trajectory to 2050 is indicating that it will not be met with what’s currently in the plans, and that’s even before you take into account the LNG.”
Environment Minister George Heyman has already responded, saying the government will accept Bellringer’s recommendations and introduce legislation to drop emissions by 40 per cent by 2030.
BC marked it’s worst wildfire season on record last summer, as well as extensive flooding in the Okanagan due to heavy rain and snow melt last spring.
“Even if all of BC’s emissions were reduced to zero tomorrow, we would still face significant climate change. BC needs a sound adaptation plan to reduce the risk of climate change. Overall we found that the BC government is not adequately managing the risks posed by climate change.”
As part of the audit, the auditor general’s office spoke with 33 local governments around BC to understand challenges. According to the report, these governments faced “significant challenges in adapting to climate change, including a lack of support from the provincial government.”
