Doubts raised about B.C.’s ambitious climate change plans

• 90% of new light-duty cars to be zero-emission by 2030
• 100% of new light-duty cars to be zero-emission by 2035
• 26% by 2026

The plan to combat climate change has become even more urgent for the British Columbia government.

The province has launched what it describes as a stronger, more ambitious climate plan to deliver on its commitment to reduce climate pollution and build a cleaner, stronger economy by 2030. It includes aggressive targets for new zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) over the next 14 years.

Twenty-six per cent of all new light-duty cars will need to be zero-emission by 2026. By 2030, that percentage rises to 90, and then by 2035, 100 per cent of new light-duty cars will have to be ZEV.

However, a local expert wonders if that’s possible.

“Affordability is going to be a massive part because what do you do for all those people looking for that entry level vehicle for a cheaper price,” Jamie Kaban, President of Kelowna New Car Dealers Association, told Kelowna10.

He said that gasoline entry level vehicles are typically around $20,000, but entry level SEVs are double the price. The other big factor is the ability to produce batteries fast enough, as the market already struggles with battery production for the 5% of vehicles that are zero-emission.

“To bring that up to 90%, that 85% gap, you’re talking about a lot of batteries. And if we’re not even able to hit our current demand where we are now at 25% of hybrid vehicles, I don’t know how they’re going to be able to increase that production that quickly,” Kaban said.

Earlier this week, Premier John Horgan said the CleanBC Roadmap to 2030 accelerates measures in the climate plan and introduces new ideas to help B.C. achieve the Paris emissions reduction targets for 2030 and reach net-zero by 2050.

Horgan said given the increasing extreme weather events and wildfires, all British Columbians and Canadians are focused on making progress on climate change now.

“Not sometime in the future, but right now. The threat is no longer decades away. It is here with us in everything that we do,” Horgan told a news conference.

Horgan was asked what differences the changes will make for residents by 2030.

“I’m hopeful they’re going to have cleaner air to breathe and there will be fewer fires. They will have access to different transportation options that are either zero-emitting or heading in that direction,” the premier commented.

However, Horgan noted B.C. is “5.2 million souls in a sea of seven billion people” and governments around the globe will have to make extraordinary efforts to be successful on climate change.

The new plan builds on the one B.C. has been working under since 2018 by making polluting more expensive and the shift from fossil fuels to clean alternatives more affordable. Horgan said the plan will help power more businesses and communities with clean, renewable made-in-B.C. hydro electricity. Working with large industry partners, it will also ensure sector-specific plans to reduce their climate pollution and meet B.C.’s targets.

The CleanBC Roadmap to 2030 includes a series of actions across eight pathways. They include:

• a commitment to increase the price on carbon pollution to meet or exceed the federal benchmark, with supports for people and businesses;
• requirements for new industry projects to have enforceable plans to reach B.C.’s legislated and sectoral targets and net zero by 2050;
• stronger regulations that will nearly eliminate industrial methane emissions by 2035;
• a comprehensive review of the oil and gas royalty system to ensure it aligns with B.C.’s climate goals and provides a fair return for British Columbians, with outcomes released in February 2022;
• new requirements to make all new buildings zero-carbon by 2030;
• a nation-leading adoption of zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) by 2030 and 100% ZEVs by 2035;
• developing new ZEV targets for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles;
• an accelerated shift toward active transportation and public transit (30% by 2030; 40% by 2040; 50% by 2050);
• increased clean fuel and energy efficiency requirements; and
• support for innovation in areas like clean hydrogen, the forest-based bioeconomy and negative emissions technology.

To read the CleanBC Roadmap to 2030, visit: www.cleanbc.gov.bc.ca

With files from Pete McIntyre/Vernon Matters