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Wetselaar said global demand for LNG has grown 9 per cent in the last year alone and the LNG the project will produce is half as emission-intensive as coal, a power source which Asian countries are trying to replace with LNG.

“This would make LNG Canada the biggest project sanction globally since the Tengiz expansion was approved in 2016, and the biggest greenfield project to be sanctioned since Yamal LNG in 2013,” said Dulles Wang, director, North America gas at Wood Mackenzie. “It seems that mega-projects are back.”

A second phase of the project could follow in 2023 after the first part of the liquefaction facility is up and running.

“Today’s announcement by LNG Canada represents the single largest private sector investment in the history of Canada,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday at the announcement in Vancouver.

The announcement was immediately cheered by the energy industry and decried by the B.C. Green Party, which is part of the coalition supporting the NDP government.

“Adding such a massive new source of GhGs means that the rest of our economy will have to make even more sacrifices to meet our climate targets,” Weaver said in a release. “I believe we can create far more jobs in other industries that won’t drastically increase our emissions.”

Environmental groups such as the David Suzuki Foundation also believe the project does not match B.C.’s climate change goals.