Statement on B.C. Government’s CleanBC Review

The Business Council of British Columbia (BCBC) is disappointed with the CleanBC review report, as many of its core recommendations move further away from the practical and economically grounded reset we outlined in our submission. While the report acknowledges that CleanBC’s timelines are unrealistic and that affordability, economic uncertainty, population growth, and global energy disruption must factor into policy design, it ultimately fails to address concerns raised by the business community. 

Instead, the report continues to endorse sweeping interventions across the provincial economy without considering whether CleanBC’s goals reflect economic reality, the availability of commercially viable technology, or what British Columbians can reasonably afford. In doing so, it ignores the reality that B.C. accounts for only a fraction of global emissions, yet British Columbians are being asked to absorb significant economic costs from increasingly restrictive domestic policies. Undermining the province’s economic and export base, downplaying the role of B.C.’s LNG exports in reducing global emissions, and ignoring CleanBC’s macroeconomic impacts will not support long-term prosperity nor make a meaningful contribution to global emissions reductions. 

Several recommendations in the report also run counter to the principles of affordability, competitiveness, and economic growth emphasized in our submission. Layering on additional net-zero requirements, stricter methane rules, more stringent industrial carbon pricing rules, and tighter fuel standard requirements would only add further cost and complexity to a policy framework that is already dense and increasingly damaging for B.C.’s trade-exposed industries. At a time of slower economic growth and global trade disruptions, making B.C.’s exports — which provide high-paying jobs and revenue to fund essential public services — more expensive and less competitive is not sound public policy. 

We strongly recommend that the provincial government not adopt the report’s recommendations. B.C. must instead pursue a more reasonable and balanced approach that supports economic prosperity while making meaningful progress toward global emissions management goals. Without that balance, public support will wane, investment will shift elsewhere, and both the economy and the global environment will suffer.