BC won't hit GHG targets

Photo: Contributed - Flickr/BC gov't

A climate leadership team has concluded that British Columbia's government will fail to meet its greenhouse gas reduction targets by 2020.

The team — which was appointed by the provincial government — has released a report which also calls for an increase in the carbon tax by $10 a tonne each year starting in 2018.

Environment Minister Mary Polak admitted that the 2020 target would be difficult to achieve and she says the government needs to look at resetting those carbon-reduction targets to 2050.

Polak says the government is preparing to consult widely with industry and the public on the report's 32 recommendations and will introduce a new climate policy next spring.

The government's 2007 greenhouse gas reduction legislation aimed to cut harmful emissions by 33 per cent by 2020.

Green Party member of the legislature Andrew Weaver says the province will never achieve its emission-reduction targets if it continues to pursue plans to develop a liquefied natural gas industry.