For immediate release
April 4, 2022
VICTORIA, B.C. – Sonia Furstenau responds to the release of the Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change (IPCC) Sixth Assessment Report Summary for Policymakers.
“The IPCC report is crystal clear: we have to make a choice, now, to end fossil fuel development and rapidly scale up the low carbon economy. The world’s best scientists have stated that we have the ‘tools and the know-how’ to safeguard our future. The factor we are missing is political will.
“Last week in our provincial Legislature, BC NDP and BC Liberal MLAs debated a motion on the LNG industry, which was a shameful competition between two parties trying to out-spin one another in their support for fossil fuel subsidies. British Columbians deserve a government that recognizes the reality of the climate emergency and that the only way to build a sustainable, resilient economy is to stop subsidizing the industries that are driving it.
“The IPCC report authors stated that we will almost inevitably overshoot the warming level of 1.5 degrees Celsius, which will in itself lead to widespread suffering and death among mostly marginalized populations. To reduce this suffering the next few years are critical. Governments around the world, including the BC NDP, need to immediately divest from fossil fuels. The IPCC Summary for Policymakers highlighted that investment in renewable energy must be increased sixfold to make the changes necessary.
“In B.C, we have a disturbing pattern of successive provincial governments that fail to understand what it means to plan for the future. Whether it’s failing to invest in preventative health care, failing to invest in infrastructure that makes us resilient to extreme weather or failing to stop expanding the fossil fuel industry, they are leaving us vulnerable in the face of crises. It does not have to be this way. If we make smart investments, we can build a province where everyone’s needs are met, our communities are prepared for the challenges on the horizon and our economy is strategically positioned to thrive in a rapidly changing global environment.”
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Media contact
JoJo Beattie
Press Secretary
B.C. Green Caucus
+1 250-882-6187 | jojo.beattie@leg.bc.ca