Earlier this year, extreme weather had a significant impact on B.C. tree fruit and led to “catastrophic” crop losses estimated to have wiped out more than 95 per cent of wine grapes, adding insult to injury after several years of wildfires affecting crop yields. Evidence is mounting that this is the new normal for B.C.’s tree fruit and wine industries.
And it’s not just these two sectors that are being whipsawed by a changing climate. The province’s forestry industry has seen harvests decline by 30 per cent since 2000, where climate-induced wildfires and mountain pine beetles are significant contributors. Even the province’s tourism industry is not immune. Our ski industry employs 21,000 people and generates more than $2 billion in revenue, and recent studies suggest that North America’s ski resorts can expect shorter ski seasons over the coming decades as the continent warms.
Our electricity grid, which normally flies happily under the radar with some of the continent’s cheapest power, has become another cost pressure. As electricity demand catches up to supply, exacerbated by worsening droughts and potential new large industrial loads, the government and BC Hydro are accelerating efforts to put in place new investments into generation and transmission to avoid having to buy costly power from our neighbours.
And the economic impacts of climate change on B.C. industries are just half of the story. The incoming government also faces massive new bills to replace infrastructure damaged by fire and floods while also reinforcing existing infrastructure to keep up with increasingly wild swings in our climate. The insurable losses from the 2021 floods and heat dome that killed 619 people are estimated to be between $10 billion and $17 billion, and these costs are not counting supply chain disruptions or impacts to industries like tourism. Evidence suggests that climate-related weather events are becoming the new normal.
Keeping people safe is another increasingly costly budget line item. The heat dome tragedy underlined the need for governments to help residents cool their homes, which for many households means a heat pump—a technology that, in addition to offering air conditioning, significantly lowers energy bills and a home’s carbon footprint. Heat pumps also provide much-needed air filtration during wildfire season: Smoke is believed to cause up to several thousand premature deaths in Canada every year, putting additional strain on our overburdened healthcare system.
And lastly, with affordability top of mind for voters this fall, let’s not forget that climate change makes life more expensive. Currently, across Canada, climate-related damages are estimated to cost the average Canadian household $700 each year, and low-income households are disproportionately affected.
As we move toward the official start of the provincial election campaign, parties will be putting their finishing touches on their platforms and starting to think about their policy agenda should they form government. While a climate-induced economic cloud hangs over B.C.’s economic future, there is a silver lining. Our U.S., Asian, and European trading partners are rapidly pivoting their economies off of fossil fuels, and the province is well placed to export the goods and services that support this global transition. Critical minerals, clean hydrogen, clean electricity, along with the innovative products produced by B.C.’s clean technology sector—currently home to seven of the world’s 100 most promising cleantech firms—will be in high demand.
Analysis from Clean Energy Canada shows that, in a world where Canada and B.C. remain on track to meet net zero commitments by 2050, 400,800 clean energy jobs would be created in the province, up from 83,100 in 2025—an annual growth rate of six per cent. What’s more, polling shows that B.C. residents overwhelmingly support a transition to a clean economic future.
To apply a well-worn but applicable cliche, this is B.C.’s race to lose.
Mark Zacharias is the executive director at Clean Energy Canada, a think tank at Simon Fraser University’s Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue.
