If I had a billion dollars...


621 signed. Let's get to 1000.

Last year, the B.C. government gave a billion dollars to fossil fuel companies.

That's twice as much as we spend on climate action, and five times as much as we get back in royalties.

As our communities recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, every taxpayer dollar is precious. Tell the Premier and Ministers how you would invest a billion dollars.

We need to end fossil fuel subsidies now.

Facts:

  1. BC is the second largest provider of fossil fuel subsidies in Canada with subsidies worth around one billion dollars every year. That’s about $500 for every BC taxpayer.
  2. Subsidies, as defined by the World Trade Organization, include direct spending, tax breaks (including royalty credits and reductions), and transfer of risk (including through loan guarantees). Governments also support fossil fuels through other mechanisms such as public finance and state-owned enterprises.
  3. The UN Secretary General has repeatedly called on the global community to end fossil fuel finance and subsidies.
  4. Fossil fuel subsidies are expensive, incentivize pollution, and disadvantage cleaner energy like renewables or geothermal by creating market distortions.
  5. Ongoing subsidies and tax breaks for fossil fuel companies mean there is less funding available to support critical social services like healthcare and education.
  6. The vast majority of existing subsidies are going to oil & gas production, which makes fossil fuels cheaper to produce, undermining BC’s climate goals.
  7. Fossil fuel subsidies and support mean the private sector doesn’t have to take on the level of risk that expensive projects would incur without government intervention. When government props up these projects (e.g., TMX, LNG Canada, and Woodfibre LNG), it is taxpayers who are on the hook, and public money that is put at risk.
  8. Subsidy reform is critical to support climate action, work towards a just transition, and ensure more effective fiscal frameworks for BC as we recover from COVID-19.
  9. Subsidy reform can help transition to renewable energy, create jobs, and enhance energy security.
  10. The BC government’s commitment to review the Oil & Gas Royalty Framework is an opportunity to begin subsidy reform. A recent review showed that the BC government has foregone more than $2 billion in royalties from 2016–2019 due to the Deep Well Royalty Program alone.
  11. No new fossil fuel subsidies (including tax or royalty breaks) should be introduced.
  12. We need to phase out existing fossil fuel subsidies, and support Canada’s G20 commitment to phase out fossil fuel subsidies by 2025.

References:

IISD (2019) Report: "Locked in and losing out: British Columbia's fossil fuel subsidies."

IISD (2020) Webinar: “Tackling Fossil Fuel Subsidies in British Columbia” on 8th December 2020.

Stand.earth (2020) Report: "Subsidizing Climate Change: How BC gives billions to corporate polluters"

Ripple WJ et al. (2019) World scientists’ warning of a climate emergency. BioScience, biz088.