Province Releases Independent Review of CleanBC
December 10, 2025
The Province has released the final report from the independent review of CleanBC, B.C.’s climate plan.
The review was led by independent climate-policy experts Merran Smith and Dan Woynillowicz, and was informed by feedback from people and communities throughout the province, including Indigenous partners, local governments, industry, non-profits and the Climate Solutions Council.
The report found that B.C. is reducing emissions, however not at a rate that will allow them to meet their 2030 targets.
“While CleanBC has lowered climate pollution in some sectors, the province will fall well short of its 2030 climate change target,” the authors Smith and Woynillowicz explained in the executive summary.
“[CleanBC’s] policies and programs are measurably reducing climate pollution while creating jobs, improving community health, and lowering everyday costs for British Columbians. Yet, despite these successes, the plan is not yet reaching its full potential.”
Smith and Woynillowicz concluded that, “CleanBC has led to meaningful progress; many of the plan’s policies and programs are transforming the market as British Columbians choose new cleaner options and businesses and workers respond to deliver and service them. Thanks to CleanBC, hundreds of thousands of residents and scores of businesses are installing heat pumps and switching to electric vehicles (EVs). EV sales are on track to meet the plan’s projected adoption levels, and in 2022, for the first time ever, the province’s heating equipment distributors imported more residential heat pumps than natural gas furnaces.
“There’s room to improve and fill outstanding gaps, to do more in some areas—and ease off in others,” they said. “However, the government’s current pursuit of increased gas production and new LNG export opportunities threatens to set back progress. These activities create jobs and economic benefits, but also add significant new sources of climate pollution that stand to all-but wipe out hard-fought gains in other sectors.”
“Prospects for the sector also face significant uncertainty thanks to surging global supply and uncertain demand, while many of its anticipated customers pursue cleaner and more affordable options that would strengthen their energy security by reducing their reliance on imported fuels. Although expanded gas and LNG development holds the promise of new jobs and government revenue, it also carries opportunity costs for other industrial sectors, such as critical minerals mining. These sectors would also need significant quantities of clean electricity, skilled labour, and provincial policy and fiscal support—and a dominant focus on LNG risks limiting their opportunities.”
Ultimately, the report finds that CleanBC needs to be renewed while plugging some of the gaps that relevant stakeholders have identified.
“For citizens and businesses, the clean choice must be the easy choice: They need affordable access to efficient technologies like heat pumps and EVs, and support for energy upgrades that cut both climate pollution and energy bills.”
Priorities from the report
- Accelerate clean electricity production and electrification as the foundation of energy security and economic growth
- Make it easier for British Columbians to cut energy bills and climate pollution
- Leverage BC’s clean energy advantage to create more jobs in the energy transition
- Support B.C.’s industries to become cleaner and more competitive
- Increase production of clean, made-in-B.C biofuels and renewable natural gas
- Deepen partnerships with First Nations and local governments
- Focus on delivering effective, achievable and fiscally responsible outcome
“I am incredibly grateful to Merran and Dan for their work in putting together this significant review,” said Adrian Dix, Minister of Energy and Climate Solutions. “B.C. continues to be a leader on climate action because we put people first. Our plan going forward will be focused on delivering the outcomes we need – for our economy and our communities – and today’s report will help us build on that plan.”
The review was one of the commitments outlined in the 2024 Co-operation and Responsible Government Accord between the B.C. government and the BC Green caucus.
“First, I want to thank the reviewers, Merran Smith and Dan Woynillowicz, for their hard work on this,” said Jeremy Valeriote, MLA for West Vancouver-Sea to Sky. “The report is clear that we need to strengthen climate action in B.C., something that the BC Greens strongly support. If fully implemented, the review’s recommendations will help propel B.C. toward further climate action in a leadership role.”
Government will review the recommendations as it considers next steps that continue to build a strong economy, cut emissions and prioritize affordability.
