B.C. B.C.

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The B.C. The government of British Columbia has filed a legal response to a lawsuit by an environmental group claiming that the Environment Ministry’s climate plans failed to adequately address how government plans to achieve its greenhouse gas emission targets.

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Friday’s B.C. Supreme Court response. Supreme Court, the provincial government states that the issues raised by Ecojustice last week in support of Sierra Club B.C. are unjusticiable.

The government claims that Sierra Clubs complaintthat plans of the government are not sufficiently detailed in their report are not to Sierra Clubs’ liking, especially in relation to the oil-and-gas sector target. It argues that this is not a reasonable basis to bring legal action and the court should dismiss it.

TheClimate Change Accountability BillThe government must publish an annual report on how it plans for progress towards all its climate targets. B.C. targets for provincial-level GHG emissions to be less than 2007 levels by 2030, less than 60 percent by 2040, less by 2050, and less at 80 percent by 2050.

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But Sierra Club allegesThe 2021 accountability ReportIt is woefully inadequate by failing to include a plan to meet the 2025, 2040, and 2050 climate targets. It also neglects to include the government’s plan to reduce carbon pollution from oil and gas sectors, which is mainly fuelled by the provinces natural-gas industry.

The report does not include chapters on quantifying progress towards the 2025, 2040, or 2050 targets. However, its supporting material contains information about how the various initiatives described will lead to increasing reductions over time. This is what the government claims, in the response.

The government claims that the Act does not impose any standard for the adequacy or plans to achieve the targets. It also states that the minister’s obligation is to report the governments plans to meet their emissions targets in whatever state they are.

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Ecojustice’s climate program director Alan Andrews claimed that the report is so full of detail it is laughable.

It was quite surprising and raises questions about why they introduced the Act. They claim it will deliver transparency, accountability, and now they argue that it cannot be enforced by the court. So how does this deliver accountability? said Andrews.

They haven’t come up with a plan that will meet all their goals. We have the right to sue a government if it fails to follow the law.

The government also claims Sierra Club waited longer than five months to file a petition challenging the ministers report, which led to unnecessary delays. Andrews stated that they were still waiting for the methodology section of the final report before making any legal decisions.

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The government says the Sierras lawsuit is misguided. It also claims it cannot credibly claim that there are no plans in Sierras report to meet various emission reduction targets.

Andrews: I challenge the minister to identify where the plans are for the 2025 and 2040 targets.

David Cowie, a government lawyer who filed the response to the request,has not returned a message. The date for the hearing has not yet been set.

The B.C. The Ministry of Environment responded to the suit by sending a short statement via email. It said it was proud of its CleanBC plan on continent and that it could not comment on the details of the matter, as it is before the courts.

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British Columbia has approved two liquefied petroleum gas (LNG), projects through an environmental assessment process. According to court documents, three other LNG projects are currently in the environmental assessment phase and are being considered for development.

Ecojustice lawyers claim that all of these projects will have an impact on B.C.’s ability to achieve its oil and gas sector targets, as well as its 2040-2050 targets.

The petitioners are asking for declaratory relief in relation to whether Environment Minister George Heyman failed under the Act and/or quashing or setting aside the report 2021.

Andrews claims that the ministry’s failures undermine the B.C. Andrews alleges that the ministry’s failure undermines the B.C.’s climate leadership credentials, and risks locking the province into high carbon futures.

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He stated that the public has a right of inquiry into whether their government has a plan to address the climate crisis.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Science warned in February that the climate crisis is rapidly progressing and that there is no way to avoid it. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the world will face unavoidable climate risks over the next 20 years with global warming of 1.5 C or even temporarily exceeding this level. This will lead to widespread destruction and catastrophic loss of life and infrastructure.

B.C. has high greenhouse gas emissions According to the latest figures, greenhouse-gas emissions in B.C. rose to 68.6 millions tonnes in 2019, from 66 million tonnes in 2017.To the Climate Accountability Report.The government estimates that CleanBC’s climate actions will reduce emissions to 55.2 Million tonnes in 2030.

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