World leaders have gathered in Paris during the Climate Change Summit to discuss global climate. Premier Christy Clark is at the event and says B.C. can play a bigger role by helping other countries lower their emissions by exporting natural gas.
Clark explains exporting gas can help avoid the construction of more coal mines in other parts of the world, especially in countries like China and India.
WATCH: How B.C. can play a bigger role in helping other countries lower their emissions
“There are 150 coal plants that are being built, are on the books to be built in China today. They had their worst smog day of the year, yesterday. We can help them, we can make sure that those plants don’t get built, and that’s by exporting natural gas,” said Clark.
B.C.’s economy has grown nine per cent faster than the national economy according to Clark, who says the province has found the balance between environment goals and financial growth.
“We have, and our economy is growing faster than most of the other economies in the country while our fossil fuel usage is shrinking.”
Clark spoke to the World Bank in Paris, who told her the province of B.C. is an example for the world on how to find balance between growth and environmental management.
“I think, we also as British Columbians need to celebrate the fact that we are doing so much to reduce greenhouse gases around the world, cause we all share that air,” added Clark.
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B.C.’s climate leadership team was also mentioned, as it has released a series of recommendations, including an increase on the carbon tax by 2018. But Clark said the province will not act on any recommendations until it has received input from residents.
“We have to consult with the people of the province, we have to consult with employers to make sure this doesn’t have an impact on jobs, we have to hear what people would like us to do before we decide which one of those many recommendations we will take.”
For now the premier hopes B.C. can continue to play a large role as a leader in climate change and said she thinks accountability is vital for the summit to be successful.
WATCH: BC NDP leader John Horgan responds to Premier Christy Clarks comments on climate change
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