Lək̓ʔəŋən [LEKWUNGEN] TERRITORY / VICTORIA, B.C. — Leader of the BC Greens and candidate for Saanich North and the Islands, Emily Lowan, today announced the BC Greens’ plan to put British Columbia back on track on climate. Under the plan, fossil fuel corporations would pay a fair share for the resources they take, B.C. would stop locking itself into decades of new fossil fuel infrastructure, and households would get help to cut their energy costs.
“Foreign mega-corporations are harvesting B.C.’s resources, yet paying scraps to British Columbians,” said Lowan. “Meanwhile, families are paying the price for the climate change these corporations create, through wildfire smoke, higher insurance bills, and heat waves that put lives at risk. Premier Eby has opened the door to massively increased extraction while British Columbians see a maximum of 14% of the profits. That’s billions of dollars a year that could go towards making life more affordable or healthcare more accessible. British Columbians deserve a better deal.”
The independent review of CleanBC, released in November 2025, confirmed that B.C. is off track to meet its legislated climate targets. Instead of changing course, the B.C. government is backing new LNG development. LNG terminals, pipelines, and gas production are built to run for 20 to 40 years. New LNG development could add millions of tonnes of industrial emissions each year, cancelling out the reductions households and other industries are working hard to make. In the last 15 years, LNG production has more than doubled in British Columbia, while royalty payments received by the province have dropped by half. The BC Greens also fundamentally oppose the Pacific Link pipeline, which puts our coasts and lands in danger, and amounts to a $40B handout to the fossil fuel industry.
“It’s time to return profit to the communities that create it. The BC Greens will pass a new fossil fuel royalty system to generate $4B annually. When fossil fuel companies rake in extraordinary profits from global price spikes, like we’re seeing during the Iran War, a windfall profits tax will make sure they pay their fair share.”
The BC NDP has spent billions in subsidies through infrastructure, preferential tax treatment, and public financing to support the construction of fossil fuel infrastructure that has not delivered the promised benefits.
The BC Greens will:
- Treat the climate crisis like the emergency it is. We’ll bring in a new provincial climate action plan that meets the targets demanded by the climate emergency, with clear sector-by-sector milestones, annual public reporting, and real consequences when government falls behind.
- Reform BC’s oil and gas royalty framework to achieve its original objective of collecting 50 per cent of net profits after production costs, with clear rules for allowable costs and public reporting on the royalties collected. For 2027/28, the Province currently forecasts approximately $1.14 billion in natural-gas royalties. We estimate that achieving the 50 per cent objective would generate approximately $4.09 billion — nearly $3 billion more in a single year.
- End provincial subsidies, tax preferences and public financing that encourage the expansion of fossil-fuel production.
- Require the oil and gas sector to reduce emissions in line with BC’s climate targets, with a binding sectoral emissions cap if existing regulations and industrial carbon pricing do not deliver the required reductions.
- Oppose the Pacific Link pipeline.
- Introduce a windfall profits tax on extraordinary corporate profits, including in the fossil-fuel sector.
Click here to read our Climate, LNG, and Royalties Policy Brief.
-30-
Media contact
Prym Goodacre, Media & Campaigns Officer
+778 650 0597
newsroom@bcgreens.ca