BREAKING: The B.C. government has responded to legal challenge by @sierraclubbc over its climate plan. SCBC are represented by @ecojustice_ca - here's my take 🧵#bcpoli
First a rewind to 2019: we were told that the Climate Change Accountability Act would "enhance the transparency and accountability of reporting" "by increasing the frequency and specificity of the information required to be reported to the Legislature and to British Columbians"
Fast forward to 2022 and we are told that same act doesn’t actually impose any “standards of adequacy” on climate plans – they don’t even need to tell us whether we’re on track to meet targets or not.🤔
B.C. claims that @sierraclubbc is going to court just to get the climate plan it wants. But in reality, there are huge holes in their 2021 report, where the government simply doesn’t have ANY plan.
We argue that the law requires the government to publish plans to achieve progress towards ALL of B.C.’s climate targets, and they have failed to produce ANY plans for 2025, 2040, 2050, OR the critical oil and gas industry.
B.C. also argues that the public cannot hold the government accountable to their climate law through the courts. They define accountability narrowly as “accountability to the Legislative Assembly and to the public, not the courts.”
But Canadian governments are routinely held to account for complying with the law through the courts – it's a cornerstone of our democracy and the rule of law that the public can access the courts to demand fairness, transparency, and accountability.
Why would the Climate Change Accountability Act be any different?
What's the point of climate accountability laws if the government can avoid being held to account when it breaks them?
We are calling on the B.C. government to come forward with a plan for ALL its targets.
We won't back down. Stay tuned for more on this landmark case and find out more from @ecojustice_ca
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