The Gitanyow Hereditary Chiefs released today a failing grade for the proposed Ksi Lisims liquefied natural gas project based on an updated and evidence-based climate test they are using to thoroughly evaluate climate change impacts of new major projects affecting their territory.
The Gitanyow Hereditary Chiefs found that Ksi Lisims LNG’s August 2024 letter and its climate-related materials provided to Gitanyow Hereditary Chiefs does not address the bulk of climate concerns raised. The proposed LNG project’s climate footprint is considered a major concern across the majority of the Gitanyow Climate Test criteria.
The Gitanyow Climate Test identified major climate failures in the following areas, among others:
- There is no plan for improving climate impact performance up- and downstream of the LNG terminal.
- The Ksi Lisims application’s descriptions for three of four proposed climate impact mitigation measures do not explain the mechanisms to address climate impacts, and little evidence is provided backing up the applications claims of effectiveness.
- As indicated in the Ksi Lisims environmental assessment application and by BC Hydro, there is uncertainty about when sufficient electricity transmission infrastructure can be completed and about to what extent Ksi Lisims LNG can be electrified, leading to climate mitigation risks. The project also poses major implications for BC electricity generation and transmission system and for other BC Hydro customers.
- There are no concrete details about the offset program and its success is uncertain. There is solid evidence that the cost of carbon offsets may escalate, threatening the financial viability of this key climate impact mitigation strategy.
- The Ksi Lisims LNG application lacks complete information on the climate impact performance on the whole project.
- The Prince Rupert Gas Transmission pipeline application is 10 years old and it is unclear whether the B.C. government will recognize the project as ‘substantially started’ or whether a new environmental assessment application is required.
- The PRGT application does not detail mitigations for fugitive and venting emissions nor quantify emissions reductions.
- According to information provided by the First Nations Climate Initiative’s own consultant about 80 per cent of LNG lifecycle emissions occur downstream of the LNG terminal. The Ksi Lisims and PRGT applications do not indicate that there will be any attempt to mitigate these impacts.
The climate test report informs the Wilp Sustainability Assessment Process to allow impacted Wilp(s), or house groups, to weight the results across criteria and relative to inputs to the sustainability test.
The 2021 WSAP contains a climate test to determine (1) whether a new project would impair B.C.’s ability to meet its legislated emission targets and Canada’s ability to meet its Paris Agreement commitment, and (2) whether a project minimizes carbon pollution. In 2023, GHC revisited the climate test in light of new projects such as Ksi Lisims LNG proposed in or affecting Gitanyow territory.
Quotes:
“Our concerns about the proposed Ksi Lisims LNG project and PRGT are even more urgent when we consider climate impacts. The Gitanyow Climate Test is a cutting edge tool that lets us fully evaluate the long term impacts of major projects like LNG and pipelines on our territory. This LNG project just doesn’t meet the bar we need to see in terms of sustainability. It puts our community’s future at risk.”
Simooget Watakhayetsxw/Deborah Good
“By their very nature, gas pipelines and LNG facilities lock-in climate impacts from their own infrastructure, but also from that associated with upstream and downstream emission activities.
This test shows that the technology and gas used in this project is expected to be locked-in for a long time. Yet climate impacts such as worsening and longer wildfire seasons are being felt now. We are taking responsibility as stewards of our lands to reduce those threats by refusing climate destroying projects.”
Naxginkw/Tara Marsden, Wilp Sustainability Director
For more information and media requests:
Xbiisuunt/Chasity Daniels
Communications Coordinator
[email protected]
The Simigigyet’m Gitanyow (Gitanyow Hereditary Chiefs) are an innovative, traditional Indigenous government mandated to protect Gitanyow Nation’s lands, resources, and laws. The Gitanyow have never ceded or surrendered title to their lands, rights to their resources, or the power to make decisions within their Lax’yip (Territory). The Gitanyow Hereditary Chiefs’ goal is to establish government-to-government agreements that form the foundation of a modern-day treaty through an incremental treaty approach. In 2012, the Gitanyow Hereditary Chiefs and the province of British Columbia signed the
Gitanyow Lax’yip Land Use Plan to guide all industrial activity. Gitanyow Nation is part of the larger Gitksan Nation, encompassing 6,200 square kilometres in the Nass and Skeena Watersheds (Kitwanga and Kispiox Rivers).
Learn more by visiting gitanyowchiefs.com and following @gitanyowchiefs on Instagram.
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