Victoria climate activists unveiled an ice sculpture at the B.C. legislature Thursday, calling on the provincial government to freeze its Liquefied Natural Gas and fracking expansion plans.
“It’s a symbol of the limited time we have to act, this ice sculpture is slowly going to melt away just like our time to address a crisis that affects all of us,” says Mike Hudema, a spokesperson for Climate Justice Victoria.
The rally coincides with the opening day of the United Nations COP28 Climate Summit in Dubai.
The group says if all planned LNG projects in B.C. become operational, they will create more than three times the allowable emissions in the province’s climate plan, equivalent to burning 34 billion pounds of coal annually or adding nearly seven million gasoline cars to B.C. streets every year for 30 years.
“We all experienced a summer of record wildfires, this is going to be the hottest year ever recorded and the last thing that we should be doing is accelerating and growing the problem,” says Hudema.
In May 2018, the B.C. government pledged to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40 per cent by 2030, and 80 per cent by 2050.
B.C’s Environment Minister George Heyman is attending the COP28, along with 70,000 delegates, as well as several other provincial environment ministers.
The conference concludes on Dec. 12, 2023.
Hannah Lepine
