A court ruling that favoured the B.C. government in a dispute over climate change reporting requirements has also found that the province is not likely to meet its immediate climate change goals.
Justice Jasvinder Basran of the B.C. Supreme Court offered this assessment while dismissing a suit filed by environmental law charity Ecojustice on behalf of Sierra Club B.C.
The suit claimed that the Minster of Environment and Climate Change Strategy George Heyman had breached statutory obligations by not including plans for meeting climate change targets set for 2025, 2040, and 2050 and the oil and gas sector target set for 2030.
The group filed the suit in March 2022 with respect to the 2021 Climate Change Accountability Report. The Climate Change Accountability Act requires the minister to prepare an annual report and put it before the legislature. The suit sought additional details.
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“Provision of this information may well provide enhanced clarity and accountability but in my view, it is not statutorily required,” said Basran in dismissing the suit. “This is because the CCAA clearly articulates that GHG emissions information is only required for the current year and two subsequent years.”
He also dismissed the claim that without the additional information, the public and legislature cannot assess whether the province is on track to meet its legislative targets. Surveying the available sources, Basran finds they offer information about whether the province will meet its goals for 2025, 2040 and 2050.
Basran further pointed out that the 2021 climate accountability report estimates that existing initiatives will result in emissions of approximately 55.2 Mt CO2 which is only 40 per cent of the way to BC’s 2030 target.
“This was a larger gap than reported in the previous year’s report,” said Basran.
Story was adapted from Nelson Star.
