Article content

The B.C. government has quietly released the latest figures on B.C.’s carbon emissions that show the province continues to have an uphill fight to make significant targeted reductions.

The latest figures, for the year 2015, estimate B.C.’s carbon emissions at 63.3 million tonnes of carbon equivalent, an increase of 1.6 per cent over the previous year.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Latest figures show B.C.'s carbon emissions continue to increase Back to video

More critically, the emission level is only two per cent less than in 2007, putting the province a long way from its original legislated target of reducing emissions 33 per cent by 2020 over 2007.

Mining and upstream oil and gas production are the biggest single contributor, at 7.2 million tonnes, according to the province’s categories. Next are emissions from heavy-duty diesel vehicles at 6.92 million tonnes.

The previous B.C. Liberal government admitted the 2020 target would not be met and only renewed a target of reducing emissions 80 per cent by 2050. They did not adopt a new target of 40 per cent by 2030, recommended by a climate panel it had commissioned.