BC Shuts Climate Secretariat, Critics Worry

0:00It's March 25th. Welcome in. This has been Cooper News today, where local news meets AI. British Columbia has quietly shut down its climate action secretariat, the agency that drove climate policy across government for years. Launched back in 2007, it coordinated efforts to cut emissions province-wide. Now, at least 10 staffers are shifting to support projects like liquefied natural gas, pipelines, and gas fracking, while others join a new climate. Solutions division in the Ministry of Energy and Climate Solutions. This comes as the province merges the secretariat with its former energy decarbonization team. Officials call it a smart reconfiguration to blend climate work with economic growth. The new setup handles basics by tracking emissions and cutting them in buildings, transport, and industry, but key roles in partnering with first. Nations and crafting regulations remain unclear. Environmental groups are calling it the end of the province's clean BC plan,

1:01which aimed to slash emissions 40% by 2030. Critics point out emissions are rising fast, fueled by fracking growth, and last year the government admitted it won't hit that target. Campaigners worry there's no real push left to build a new strategy. Vancouver made a similar move this month, folding its sustainability department into other city teams. Like the province, the city says it's just reorganizing to embed green policies deeper, but local leaders see it as downplaying deep cuts to climate. Programs amid their own failing emission goals. With clean BC under review and fossil fuel priorities rising, British Columbia's climate efforts face tough choices between green targets and jobs, leaving observers to watch how the new divisions deliver or don't in the years ahead.