B.C. Greens are calling for a rapid transition away from fossil fuels after the release of new figures that show 2024 as the hottest year on record.

European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service released data last week that showed 2024 was the warmest year in global temperature records going back to 1850. The data also shows that 2024 was the first calendar year during which the average global temperature exceeded 1.5掳C above pre-industrial level.

The 2015 Paris Agreement commits signatories including Canada to limit average global temperature increases linked to human-caused climate change to 1.5掳C above pre-industrial level with the threshold reflecting a 20-year-average rather a single year. 

This means that last year's record-setting year did technically not break the Paris threshold. But the development nonetheless raised questions about the commitment to the cause of fighting climate change. 

B.C. Green MLA Jeremy Valeriote (West Vancouver-Sea to Sky) said "(climate) change isnB次元官网网址檛 an abstract, distant problem anymore" in pointing to "fires, floods, and storms...happening right now" that are "destroying homes, displacing families, and turning lives upside down."

Valeriote said it is "no longer enough to adapt reactively" in calling for measures that rapidly B次元官网网址渕itigateB次元官网网址� the effects of climate change while transitioning away from fossil fuels, a process also known as decarbonization. 

"If we donB次元官网网址檛 stop approving fossil fuel projects and commit to investing in renewable energy now, climate impacts will get much worse and cost much more," he said. "The biggest polluters need to be held accountable and pay their fair share."

Valeriote added that his party looks forward to updating the provincial government's Clean BC plan as part of the party's agreement with the governing B.C. NDP.

B次元官网网址淧eopleB次元官网网址檚 lives, homes, and futures are tied to the health of our planet, and affordability and cost of living are deeply interconnected with climate," Valeriote said. "2025 has to be the year we stop talking and actually do something, creating opportunity out of this existential crisis."

B.C.'s Ministry of Energy and Climate Readiness said in a statement that B.C. is a leader on climate action by working with First Nations and industry to reduce B.C.'s dependence on fossil fuels, making energy more affordable and reducing emissions through improved transit and more energy-effcient homes.

The statement added that B.C. is taking steps to grow a low carbon economy. "That includes our commitment to an oil and gas emissions cap and our move to an output-based pricing system for large industrial operators," it reads. 

The statement also points to steps with accompanying funding to deal with and prepare for the effects of climate-change related emergencies ($369 million since 2017) as well as building 'green' infrastructure projects ($428 million).

A new report from a group tracking B.C.'s climate change response attested government what it called "minor progress" in areas cited by government in its statement such as mitigation, preparation, transportation, home-energy efficiency and creating a different economy, but Fs in other areas such as reducing fossil fuel use. 

Black Press Media reached out twice to the Conservative Party of B.C. for comment on the findings from Copernicus Climate Change Service, but did not receive a reply by deadline. 

Voices within the party have in the past been critical of measures to fight climate change B次元官网网址� questioning the scientific consensus that human-caused emissions of fossil fuels are the primary driver to changes in global temperatures, while acknowledging the changes themselves.