VANCOUVER / UNCEDED xʷməθkʷəy̓əm, Sḵ  wx̱wú7mesh AND səlilwətaɬ TERRITORIES — In a move that disregards mounting public opposition and concerns from community and environmental groups, B.C.’s Minister of Environment and Parks, Tamara Davidson, and Minister of Energy and Climate, Adrian Dix, along with federal Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Julie Dabrusin, have approved the Ksi Lisims LNG export facility, B.C.’s latest fossil fuel mega-project.  

On behalf of the Northwest Institute for Bioregional Research, the Skeena Watershed Conservation Coalition and the Wilderness Committee, Ecojustice participated in several public comment periods ahead of the decision — pointing out serious flaws with the assessment of the Ksi Lisims LNG project, including a failure to adequately assess its climate impacts and the effects of powering the project with electricity. Despite the concerns raised, the Ministers have granted Ksi Lisims LNG an Environmental Assessment Certificate, which is necessary for construction to proceed.  

The groups condemn the Ministers’ decision, calling it a failure of environmental leadership and a direct contradiction of B.C. and Canada’s claimed commitment to climate action. They point out that B.C. is already failing to meet its climate goals, and greenlighting the Ksi Lisims LNG facility will put those goals even further out of reach. In making the decision, B.C. also failed to account for the climate consequences of downstream emissions and the diversion of scarce electricity needed to power the province’s economy.

The proposed project would convert fracked gas from northeastern B.C. into liquefied natural gas (LNG) to export overseas. It would be B.C.’s second-largest LNG facility, located at the head of the Nass River, about 80 kilometres north of Prince Rupert. It would be supplied by the highly-contested Prince Rupert Gas Transmission pipeline, a 900-km fracked gas pipeline that would cross more than 1,300 waterways and dozens of First Nations’ territories.  

Ecojustice lawyer Imalka Nilmalgoda said, “The Ksi Lisims LNG project — which will export 33 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions per year — is fundamentally at odds with B.C.’s claims to be a climate leader. Environmental assessment laws exist to bring transparency and rigour to assessing the impacts of major projects, but we are not seeing that in the Ksi Lisims decision. By approving this project, the provincial and federal governments are putting fossil fuel expansion ahead of the safety and well-being of our communities and ecosystems, and pushing us further towards climate catastrophe.”

Shannon McPhail, Co-executive Director of the Skeena Watershed Conservation Coalition, said, “This approval is yet another stark reminder that the B.C. Government is not interested in following its own laws or commitments — or in acting in the best interest of British Columbians. We deserve a government that will protect our climate, wildlife and salmon, and long-term economic health. Instead, we have a government that’s sacrificing the health and safety of our communities and our climate, by handing billions in taxpayer dollars to foreign-owned LNG companies. This government is prioritizing American billionaires over the people who live here. The Ksi Lisims LNG approval is not leadership — it’s a betrayal.”  

Wilderness Committee Climate Campaigner Isabel Siu-Zmuidzinas said, “The B.C. government has lost any credibility to call itself a climate leader while greenlighting LNG projects that trample over communities and torch our climate goals. Powering Ksi Lisims LNG with renewable energy does not make it green — it just turns B.C.’s renewable energy into yet another fossil fuel subsidy. From fracking, to transport, to export, to methane leaks, LNG locks us into decades of emissions and every approval pushes B.C.’s emissions targets further out of reach. It’s clear whose side this government is on — and it’s not the people or the planet.”

Ecojustice, the Northwest Institute for Bioregional Research, the Skeena Watershed Conservation Coalition, and the Wilderness Committee remain committed to defending the rights of the environment and frontline communities in the fight for a climate-safe future.

About

Ecojustice uses the power of the law to defend nature, combat climate change and fight for a healthy environment. Its strategic, public interest lawsuits and advocacy lead to precedent-setting court decisions, law and policy that deliver lasting solutions to Canada’s most urgent environmental problems. As Canada’s largest environmental law charity, Ecojustice operates offices in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa and Halifax.

Northwest Institute for Bioregional Research is a not-for-profit organization in Northwest B.C. that undertakes research, publishes educational information, promotes cooperation among communities and initiates model projects — all towards the goals of environmental conservation and sustainable use of natural resources in the region.

Wilderness Committee is a non-profit organization founded in B.C. with a focus on strategic research, community mobilizing and grassroots education to build support for actions to preserve nature, protect wildlife, defend parks, and fight for a safe and stable climate while standing in defense of Indigenous Rights and Title, and the public good.

Skeena Watershed Conservation Coalition works to cultivate a sustainable future from a sustainable environment rooted in our culture and a thriving wild salmon ecosystem in the Skeena watershed.  The Skeena Watershed Conservation Coalition was founded over twenty years ago by a diverse group of people living and working in the Skeena River watershed and has twice earned the recognition as one of the top ten most effective and innovative organizations in Canada. The PRGT pipeline, which would supply Ksi Lisims LNG, is proposed to travel through the Skeena Watershed.  

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Isabel Siu-Zmuidzinas | Climate Campaigner | Wilderness Committee
Isabel@wildernesscommittee.org, (781) 572-2795

Cari Siebrits | Communications Strategist | Ecojustice
csiebrits@ecojustice.ca, (416) 368-7533 ext. 504

Shannon McPhail | Co-Executive Director | Skeena Watershed Conservation Coalition shannon@skeenawatershed.com