Sierra Club of BC Foundation v. Minister of Environment -

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RT IA Y t{AR 30 ?0?2 S:2 ZZ 67 8 ffi No Vancouver Registry IN THE SUPREME COURT OF BRITISH COLUMBIA Between: SIERRA CLUB OF BRITISH COLUMBIA FOUNDATION Petitioner And: MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENT AND CLIMATE CHANGE STRATEGY Respondent PETITION TO THE COURT ON NOTICE TO: Attorney General of British Columbia, and Minister of Environment and Climate Change Strategy Ministry of Attorney General Legal Services Branch 3rd Floor - 1001 Douglas Street Victoria, BC V8W 2C5 This proceeding is brought for the relief set out in Part 1 below, by tX] the person named as petitioner in the style of proceedings above If you intend to respond to this petition, you or your lawyer must (a) file a response to petition in Form 67 inthe above-named registry of this court within the time for response to petition described below, and (b) serve on the petitioner (i) 2 copies of the filed response to petition, and (ii) 2 copies of each filed affidavit on which you intend to rely at the hearing tll Orders, including orders granting the relief claimed, may be made against you, without any further notice to you, if you fail to file the response to petition within the time for response. Time for response to the petition A response to petition must be filed and served on the petitioner, (a) if you were served with the petition anywhere in Canada, within 21 days after that service, (b) if you were served with the petition anywhere in the United States of America, within 35 days after that service, (c) if you were served with the petition anywhere else, within 49 days after that service, or (d) if the time for response has been set by order of the court, within that time. The address of the registry is: Law Courts (1) 800 Smithe Street Vancouver, BC V6Z 2E1 (2) The ADDRESS FOR SERVICE of the petitioner is: 390-425 Carrall Street Vancouver, BC V6B 6E3 Tel. 604-685-5618 Fax 604-685-7813 Email address for service of the petitioners: [email protected]; [email protected]; and [email protected] The name and office address of the petitioner's lawyers are: Harry Wruck, Q.C. Matt Hulse (3) Andhra Azevedo 390-425 Carrall Street Vancouver, BC V6B 6E3 Tel. 604-685-5618 ext 256 Fax 604-685-7813 [2] CLAIM OF THE PETITIONER Part 1: ORDERS SOUGHT 1. Orders pursuant to subsection 2(2) of the Judicial Review Procedures Act, RSBC 1996, c 241 (“JRPA”), declaring that: a. the Minister of Environment and Climate Change Strategy (the “Minister”) acted unlawfully in preparing the 2021 Climate Change Accountability Report (the “2021 Report”) under section 4.3 of the Climate Change Accountability Act, SBC 2007, c 42 (the “Act” or “CCAA”) because the 2021 Report did not include a plan to continue progress toward achieving the 2025 greenhouse gas (“GHG”) emissions reduction target established by Ministerial order under s. 2(2.1) and as required by s. 4.3(1)(h)(i) of the CCAA; b. the Minister acted unlawfully in preparing the 2021 Report under section 4.3 of the CCAA because the 2021 Report did not include a plan to continue progress toward achieving the 2040 GHG emissions reduction target referred to in s. 2(1)(a.2) and as required by s. 4.3(1)(h)(i) of the CCAA; c. the Minister acted unlawfully in preparing the 2021 Report under section 4.3 of the CCAA because the 2021 Report did not include a plan to continue progress toward the 2050 GHG emissions reduction target referred to in s. 2(1)(b) and as required by s. 4.3(1)(h)(i) of the CCAA; d. the Minister acted unlawfully in preparing the 2021 Report under section 4.3 of the CCAA because the 2021 Report did not include a plan to continue progress toward the Oil and Gas sector GHG emissions reduction target established by Ministerial order under s. 2(4)(a) and as required by s. 4.3(1)(h)(i) of the CCAA; 2. An order in the nature of certiorari pursuant to sections 2, 3, 5 and 7 of the JRPA quashing and setting aside the 2021 Report because of an error of law and remitting the report to the Minister for reconsideration in light of the reasons of this Honourable Court; 3. An order that both parties shall bear their own costs in this proceeding, regardless of the outcome of the proceeding; and 4. Such further and other relief as this Honourable Court deems just. [3] Part 2: FACTUAL BASIS A. The Parties 1. The Petitioner, Sierra Club of British Columbia Foundation (“Sierra Club BC”), is a federal charity and public interest non-profit environmental organization registered as a British Columbia society. Its mission is to support people stewarding abundant ecosystems and a stable climate, while building resilient, equitable communities. 2. Sierra Club BC has been working on issues related to climate change since the 1990s and has been closely involved in the development and critique of British Columbia’s climate accountability legislation including the CCAA, emission targets, and climate plans and policies since 2007. 3. The Respondent Minister prepared the 2021 Report, which is at issue in this Petition. B. The 2021 Climate Change Accountability Report 4. On October 25, 2021, the 2021 Report was laid before the Legislative Assembly on behalf of the Minister. The 2021 Report was also published online on the same day. 5. The 2021 Report references a number of supporting documents. These supporting documents include: a. The two climate plans referred to in the 2021 Report: i Clean BC, British Columbia’s climate plan, which was published in 2018 and described actions that British Columbia would be taking to continue progress towards achieving its emission reductions target for 2030; and ii The CleanBC Roadmap to 2030 (the “Roadmap”), which was published on October 25, 2021 and describes additional actions regarding how British Columbia plans to work towards its 2030 emissions target. b. The 2021 Supporting Material, which was published on October 25, 2021 and provides additional detail regarding British Columbia’s climate actions taken in 2020/21 and proposed for 2021/22; c. The Provincial GHG Inventory, 1990-2019, which was published in October 2021 and reports British Columbia’s GHG emissions between 1990-2019; d. The 2021 Methodology Report, which was published on March 30, 2022 and documents the methods, assumptions, and results regarding the impacts of BC’s climate policies; and e. The advice to the Minister from December 2020 to October 2021 from the Climate Solution Council, which is the advisory committee appointed pursuant to section 4.2 of the CCAA. [4] 6. Together the 2021 Report and the supporting documents listed in paragraph 5 were intended to fulfill the Minister’s obligation under section 4.3 of the CCAA to prepare an annual climate change accountability report with prescribed content. For the purpose of this Petition, any reference to the “2021 Report” refers to the climate change accountability report released on October 25, 2021 and the listed supporting documents, unless otherwise stated. 7. Under clause 4.3(1)(h), the Minister’s annual report must include “plans to continue progress toward . . . achieving the targets referred to in section 2 [of the CCAA]”. The targets referred to in section 2 of the CCAA are: a. The 2030 target: a target for province-wide GHG emissions to be at least 40% less than 2007 levels by 2030 (s. 2(1)(a.1)); b. The 2040 target: a target for province-wide GHG emissions to be at least 60% less than 2007 levels by 2040 (s. 2(1)(a.2)); c. The 2050 target: a target for province-wide GHG emissions to be at least 80% less than 2007 levels by 2050 (s. 2(1)(b)); d. The 2025 target: a GHG emissions target for a year prior to 2030 that according to the Act must be set by Ministerial order by December 31, 2020 (s. 2(2.1)). The Minister set this target for province-wide GHG emissions to be at least 16% less than 2007 levels by 2025 on December 9, 2020; and e. Sectoral targets: targets for individual economic sectors that according to the Act must be set by Ministerial order by March 31, 2021 (s. 2(4)). The Minister established GHG emission reduction targets for 2030 for four sectors, Transportation, Buildings, Industry, and Oil and Gas sectors on March 26, 2021. The target for the Oil and Gas sector is for GHG emissions from the sector to be at least 33-38% less than 2007 levels by 2030 (the “Oil and Gas sector target”). 8. The 2021 Report was the first climate change accountability report published following the establishment of the sectoral targets and the 2025 target. 9. The 2021 Report describes a suite of policies that are expected to reduce emissions to meet British Columbia’s legislated 2030 target and estimates how these policies will continue British Columbia’s progress towards the 2030 target. 10. However, as described further in paragraph 11 of Part 3: Legal Basis, the 2021 Report does not include British Columbia’s plans to continuing progress towards achieving the 2025, 2040, 2050 and Oil and Gas sector targets. [5] 11. British Columbia has approved the construction and operation of two liquefied natural gas (“LNG”) projects through the environmental assessment process. Another three LNG projects are in the environmental assessment process and are being considered for development in British Columbia. All of these projects plan to start operations prior to 2030, if approved. These LNG projects and related growth in oil and gas production will impact British Columbia’s ability to meet the Oil and Gas sector target, as well as its 2040 and 2050 targets. C. The role of the 2021 Report in British Columbia climate policy i Climate change and climate policy in British Columbia 12. Climate change is primarily caused by humans producing and burning fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and gas that create GHG emissions. 13. The Minister noted in the 2021 Report that climate change poses a real risk to British Columbians. The Minister acknowledged that the effects of climate change in British Columbia are already being felt and include increased frequency and severity of extreme weather events (including heat waves and storms) and increasingly severe wildfire seasons. 14. In order to limit the impacts of climate change, all jurisdictions must lower their GHG emissions along a consistent downwards trajectory from now until 2050. 15. In 2015, Canada became a signatory to the Paris Agreement, U.N. Doc. FCCC/CP/2015/10/Add.1, December 12, 2015 (the “Paris Agreement”), an international climate treaty. Signatories committed to holding the global temperature increase to well below 2°C and pursuing efforts to limit the temperature increase to no more than 1.5°C in order to significantly reduce the risks and impacts of climate change. 16. British Columbia has committed to support the goals of the Paris Agreement. On March 3, 2016, the Premier of British Columbia along with the other First Ministers of Canada signed the Vancouver Declaration on Clean Growth and Climate Change. In this Declaration, the First Ministers recognized the goals of the Paris Agreement, committed to increase their level of ambition to drive greater GHG emission reductions, and accurately and transparently assess the progress and impact of their climate actions towards their respective and collective targets. ii Climate accountability legislation in British Columbia 17. British Columbia has legislated GHG emission targets since 2008, when the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Targets Act, SBC 2007, c 42 came into force. This legislation set targets for reducing GHG emissions at least 33% by 2020 (the “2020 target”) and at least 80% by 2050 (the “2050 target”), both below 2007 levels. The legislation also required the Minister to publish public reports [6] every two years that described British Columbia’s GHG emissions, its progress towards the targets, the actions taken towards the targets, and the plans to continue that progress. 18. On May 31, 2018, the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Targets Act was amended to repeal the 2020 target and introduce two new targets: reducing GHG emissions by at least 40% by 2030 (the “2030 target”) and by at least 60% by 2040 (the “2040 target”). 19. On November 9, 2018, the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Targets Act was renamed the Climate Change Accountability Act (“CCAA”). 20. On September 28, 2019, the CCAA was amended to require that the Minister establish a target for a year earlier than 2030 under s. 2(2.1) and targets for individual sectors of the economy under s. 2(4)(a). This was done by Ministerial orders in 2020 and 2021, respectively. 21. The amendments to the CCAA in 2019 also required the Minister to prepare an annual climate change accountability report, meet specific content requirements for the report, and lay the report before the Legislative Assembly along a specified timeline. 22. The 2019 amendments to the CCAA further required the Minister to appoint a representative advisory committee under s. 4.2 to provide climate-related advice to the Minister, including about plans and actions to achieve the legislated targets. This committee is known as the Climate Solutions Council. The terms of reference for the Climate Solutions Council from 2020 to 2021 required that the Climate Solutions Council keep all discussions confidential and speak with only one voice in public. 23. The Climate Solutions Council provided letters and reports to the Minister between December 2020 and October 2021 stating that he should consider all legislated targets particularly the 2040 and 2050 targets, not just the 2030 target, when designing climate policies. 24. The Climate Solutions Council reported in their 2021 annual report to the Minister that the Roadmap, one of the plans included in the 2021 Report, failed to describe how British Columbia would meets its 2025 target and did not specify what policies British Columbia would use to meet its Oil and Gas sector target. iii Use of the Climate Change Accountability Report 25. In order to hold the government accountable, the public and the Legislature rely on the Minister’s annual climate change accountability report to understand what actions British Columbia is taking and will take to reduce emissions and their effectiveness of these actions in making progress towards achieving all of the targets referred to in the Act. [7] 26. Sierra Club BC, as a member of the public and an organization that played an important role in the establishment of legislated targets and the amended Act, cannot fulfill its intended role of holding the government to account to meet the targets because the 2021 Report does not describe if British Columbia is on track to meet its 2025, 2040, 2050 and Oil and Gas sector targets. Part 3: LEGAL BASIS 1. The 2021 Report fails to meet the statutory requirements of s. 4.3 of the CCAA and is therefore an unreasonable exercise of the Minister’s statutory reporting obligation under the CCAA. 2. The 2021 Report is a reviewable exercise of statutory power within the meaning of the JRPA, under s. 2(2)(b). 3. In particular, the Minister’s reporting obligation under s. 4.3 of the CCAA is a “statutory power of decision” under s. 1 of the JRPA as it is a power conferred by an enactment to determine what information on emissions and climate plans will be provided to the Legislature and the public—as long as the requirements of the statute are met. 4. In the alternative, the 2021 Report is an exercise of statutory power under s. 1 of the JRPA as it was prepared pursuant to the Minister’s reporting obligation under s. 4.3 of the CCAA, without which the Minister would not be required to prepare a climate change accountability report. 5. In the further alternative, the 2021 Report is reviewable as an act of a sufficiently public nature under s. 2(2)(a) of the JRPA: see Strauss v North Fraser Pretrial Centre (Deputy Warden of Operations), 2019 BCCA 207, at para 24. It is a report required by statute with specific and non- discretionary informational requirements to be prepared by the Minister for the Legislative Assembly and the public. A. Grounds for judicial review 6. The Minister made the following errors of law in the 2021 Report: a. Failed to include a plan to continue progress toward achieving the 2025 target as required by s. 4.3(1)(h)(i) of the CCAA; b. Failed to include a plan to continue progress toward achieving the 2040 target as required by s. 4.3(1)(h)(i) of the CCAA; c. Failed to include a plan to continue progress toward achieving the 2050 target as required by s. 4.3(1)(h)(i) of the CCAA; and d. Failed to include a plan to continue progress toward achieving the Oil and Gas sector target as required by s. 4.3(1)(h)(i) of the CCAA; [8] B. Standard of review 7. The standard of review to be applied to the issues raised by the Petitioner with the 2021 Report is reasonableness, as these are errors in law relating to the Minister’s interpretation of a home statute, the CCAA: Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) v Vavilov, 2019 SCC 65 (“Vavilov”), at para 25. C. The Report fails to meet the statutory requirements of s. 4.3 of the Climate Change Accountability Act 8. The 2021 Report is not reasonable because it does not meet the requirements of a reasonable interpretation of s. 4.3 of the CCAA. By preparing a report that is missing plans to continue progress toward achieving all of the multiple targets referred to in s. 2 of the Act, the Minister has adopted an unreasonable interpretation of s. 4.3 of the Act. The gaps in the 2021 Report cannot be supported in light of the relevant factual and legal constraints on the 2021 Report and the Minister’s reporting obligations under s. 4.3: Vavilov, at paras 105-35. 9. Clauses (a) to (h) of subsection 4.3(1) of the CCAA require the Minister to include all of the following information in his 2021 Report: a. “a determination of the BC greenhouse gas emissions in the most recent calendar year for which measurements of BC greenhouse gas emissions are available”. For the 2021 Report, this means BC’s measured emissions in 2019. b. “an estimate, based on the most recent budget and greenhouse gas emissions data in the provincial inventory, of the BC greenhouse gas emissions in each of the following years: (i) the calendar year in which the report is prepared; (ii) the subsequent 2 years”. For the 2021 Report, this means an estimate of BC’s emissions in 2021, 2022, and 2023. c. “an estimate of the BC greenhouse gas emissions in each calendar year between the years referred to in paragraphs (a) and (b) (i)”. For the 2021 Report, this means an estimate of BC’s emissions in 2020. d. “a description of the actions taken, including expenditures, during the previous fiscal year to (i) reduce BC greenhouse gas emissions, and (ii) manage climate change risks”. For the 2021 Report, this means a description of climate actions that BC has taken in fiscal year 2020/21, and related expenditures. e. “a description of the actions proposed, including planned expenditures, in the most recent budget to (i) reduce BC greenhouse gas emissions, and (ii) manage climate change risks”. For the 2021 Report, this means a description of climate actions that BC proposed for in fiscal year 2021/22, and related expenditures. [9] f. “the outcomes that could reasonably be expected to result from the actions referred to in paragraphs (d) and (e)”. For the 2021 Report, this means the outcomes expected for the climate actions taken in 2020/21 and proposed for 2021/22. g. “the advice received by the minister under section 4.2 (2)”. For the 2021 Report, this means the advice the Minister has received from the Climate Solutions Council since the last report in December 2020. h. “plans to continue progress toward” i. “achieving the targets referred to in section 2”. This means the plans to continue progress toward achieving all of the targets referred to in section 2, namely the 2025, 2030, 2040, and 2050 targets and the 2030 targets for the Oil and Gas, Industry, Transportation, and Buildings and Communities sectors, and ii. “managing climate change risks”. This means the plans to manage climate change risks. 10. The Minister’s 2021 Report did not include plans to continue progress toward achieving the 2025, 2040, 2050, and the Oil and Gas sector targets, as required by s. 4.3(1)(h)(i). 11. This failure of the 2021 Report to report on these plans is unreasonable in light of the following factual and legal constraints: a. The text and scheme of the Act refers to multiple targets and requires the report to include plans to continue progress towards all of these targets (indicated by the use of the plural, i.e. “targets”). b. The text of s. 4.3(1)(h) requires the Minister to describe a program of specific actions (a “plan”) that will be taken to lower emissions and describe how those actions will “continue progress toward . . . achieving” each of the targets. At minimum, this requires that the Minister describe the expected emission reductions from this program of actions compared against each legislated target in order to show how far these actions “continue progress toward . . . achieving” each target. In contrast to the reporting on the 2030 target, this was not done in the 2021 Report for the 2025 target, the 2040 target, the 2050 target, or the Oil and Gas sector target. c. A primary purpose of the Act, and particularly the reporting requirement in s. 4.3, is to allow for the Legislature and the public to hold the government accountable if British Columbia is not on track to achieving its legislated emission targets. The 2021 Report undermines this purpose because the Minister has not provided the minimum information needed to determine whether British Columbia’s climate actions put British Columbia on track to meet [10] all of its legislated targets. At minimum, this requires the Minister to report on the emission reductions expected from current and planned actions and how they are expected to contribute to meeting each legislated target. d. The purpose of legislating the province-wide targets for 2025, 2030, 2040, and 2050 was to ensure that British Columbia was on a consistent trajectory of lowered emissions that would allow it to meet the required emissions reductions by 2050. This purpose has been undermined because the Minister has only reported on how British Columbia’s planned actions will continue progress toward one of its province-wide legislated targets: the 2030 target. e. The purpose of legislating sectoral targets was to ensure that each sector of the economy was reducing emissions as required, to provide clarity for sectors and accountability to the public. In particular, the Oil and Gas sector target was established to ensure that emissions from the growing Oil and Gas sector do not increase from current levels and instead start to decrease. This purpose has been undermined because the 2021 Report does not separately report how British Columbia is planning to continue progress toward achieving the Oil and Gas sector target. Further, the 2021 Report claims to achieve 100% of the 2030 province-wide target but relies on emissions reductions from an as yet undeveloped “industrial climate program to address oil and gas sector emissions”. This is nothing more than a “plan to make a plan” and so cannot be reasonably included in the statutorily required “plan to continue progress toward . . . achieving” the Oil and Gas sector target. f. The Minister failed to consider the advice before him from the Climate Solutions Council, which recommended that he consider all of the legislated targets, particularly the 2040 and 2050 targets, when developing key climate policies. The Climate Solutions Council has also since noted that the 2021 Report did not contain a plan to continue progress towards the 2025 target or the Oil and Gas sector target. g. The Minister had no evidence before him of the projected emissions reductions by 2040 and 2050 from climate policies in CleanBC or the Roadmap. Neither the 2021 Methodology Report nor the methodology reports for previous climate change accountability reports include projected emissions reductions from British Columbia’s climate policies past 2030. The Minister could not have reasonably developed a plan to continue progress towards the 2040 and 2050 targets without the necessary analysis to understand how British Columbia’s climate policies would continue progress toward achieving the 2040 and 2050 targets. h. British Columbia is making decisions now that will impact British Columbia’s ability to meet its 2040 and 2050 targets and the Oil and Gas sector target. British Columbia has [11] approved oil and gas projects that will lock-in emissions for several decades. This factual context demonstrates why the Legislature required the Minister to annually report on plans to continue progress toward all targets in order to ensure that the Minister was considering the impact of current decisions on longer-term targets. By failing to include plans to continue progress towards 2040 and 2050 targets and the Oil and Gas sector target in the 2021 Report, the Legislature and the public is prevented from understanding the impact of these approvals on British Columbia’s ability to meet its targets. i. British Columbia’s Environmental Assessment Act, SBC 2018, c 51, s 25(2)(h) requires that British Columbia and project proponents assess whether the GHG emissions from a project will prevent British Columbia from meeting its legislated targets. The Minister’s failure to report on his plans to continue progress toward meeting all of the legislated targets in the 2021 Report undermines the effectiveness of this important procedural safeguard. j. The Paris Agreement and the Vancouver Declaration provide further interpretive constraints on the interpretation of the CCAA. The Paris Agreement goals are to lower emissions along a steady trajectory in order to limit warming to well below 2°C and pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to no more than 1.5°C in order to significantly reduce the risks and impacts of climate change. Canada is a signatory to the Paris Agreement. In order to help Canada contribute to the Paris Agreement goals, British Columbia agreed to enhance its transparency and report its progress to respective and collective targets. A reasonable interpretation of the reporting obligations under s. 4.3 of the CCAA must be based on the presumption that British Columbia legislated GHG emission targets to ensure that it has a steady reduction in emissions until 2050 and to contribute to meeting Canada’s international obligations. k. The increasing risks from and “existential challenge” of climate change make the transparency of the 2021 Report a matter of high public importance: References re Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act, 2021 SCC 11, at paras 10, 167. The public importance of these issues should inform the Court’s scrutiny of the Minister’s reporting requirements in the same way that issues of great importance to an affected individual elevate the Court’s scrutiny of a decision: Vavilov, at paras 133-35. Due to the limits of justiciability, members of the public cannot judicially review the contents of climate plans and policies, except where they can establish that their constitutional rights are being infringed by particular government action or legislation. This means that the public is relying on the Minister’s annual climate reports to provide statutorily required details about its climate policies and emissions reductions in order to determine whether their government is [12] doing enough to address climate change. Without this transparency, British Columbians will be unable to exercise their democratic means of holding their governments accountable for addressing the existential threat that is climate change. 12. The failure of the 2021 Report to include plans to continue progress towards the 2025, 2040, 2050 and the Oil and Gas sector targets is not justified in light of these legal and factual constraints, in particular the statutory requirements of s. 4.3 of the CCAA. The 2021 Report therefore does not reasonably meet the requirements of s. 4.3 of the CCAA. D. The issues raised are justiciable 13. The issues raised in this Petition regarding whether the 2021 Report met the Minister’s statutory obligations under s. 4.3 of the CCAA are justiciable. The Petitioner is challenging the legality of the 2021 Report based on the absence of mandatory information required by s. 4.3. The Petitioner is not asking the Court to second-guess whether provincial climate policies will effectively reduce emissions to achieve targets, or assess the wisdom of the Minister’s climate plans. The grounds of review ask the Court to examine whether a public official is complying with their legislative obligations. The Petitioner is asking this Court to assess whether the Minister has met a statutory obligation to publish a report that includes plans to make progress towards achieving all of the legislated targets as required by s. 4.3. This is the “normal stuff of judicial determination”: Schmidt v Canada (Attorney General), 2018 FCA 55, at para 12. Only in “highly exceptional” cases should a court allow itself to be ousted from its ordinary role in providing a remedy for a breach of a public official’s statutory duties: Representative for Children and Youth v. British Columbia (Children and Family Development), 2010 BCSC 697, at para 74. 14. The issues raised in this Petition can be assessed by an objective legal standard based on whether the Minister met the specific, mandatory reporting requirements of s. 4.3 of the CCAA. 15. The Legislative Assembly intended that the Minister’s reporting obligation under s. 4.3 of the CCAA would be justiciable to fulfill the accountability purpose of the legislation. Without the required information in the climate change accountability report, the public and the Legislature cannot assess whether British Columbia is or is not on track to meet its legislated targets. 16. The intention behind legislating the Minister’s reporting obligation was to guarantee that the public would have transparency and accountability regarding British Columbia’s actions to address climate change and meet its legislated targets. This is shown through the scheme of the Act, the conduct of the Minister, and the Legislative debates. [13] 17. The Act does not provide for an adequate or exclusive alternative remedy for enforcing the reporting requirement either through the Legislature or the Climate Solutions Council. A political remedy in this case is not appropriate when members of the public are also relying on a statutorily- compliant report in order to be able to hold government accountable: Canada (Auditor General) v Canada (Minister of Energy, Mines and Resources), [1989] 2 SCR 49, at 97. The advisory role of the Climate Solutions Council does not give it the power to enforce statutory reporting requirements. E. Sierra Club BC has public interest standing 18. Sierra Club BC should be granted public interest standing in this case as this judicial review raises serious justiciable issues, Sierra Club BC has a genuine interest in these issues, and this judicial review is a reasonable and effective way to bring this issue before the courts: Canada (Attorney General) v Downtown Eastside Sex Workers United Against Violence Society, 2012 SCC 45, at para 37. 19. As described at paragraphs 13-17 above, the issues raised in this judicial review are justiciable. 20. The issues raised in this judicial review are serious. Climate change poses a serious risk to all British Columbians, both current and future. The CCAA is the primary piece of legislation that establishes British Columbia’s emission targets and sets out how the Minister will transparently report to British Columbians and the Legislature on progress towards achieving those targets and managing climate risks. Without a statutorily compliant climate change accountability report that describes whether and how British Columbia is on track to meet its legislated targets, the public will be left in the dark about how British Columbia is addressing climate change. 21. This case has a reasonable prospect of success as it challenges the failure of the 2021 Report to meet statutory obligations to report on plans to continue progress towards achieving the 2025, 2040, 2050, and Oil and Gas sector targets. The Petitioner is not challenging a purely discretionary decision, but instead is alleging that a decision of the Minister does not meet prescribed requirements of the CCAA. This is a matter of statutory interpretation. Under the Vavilov framework, the Court will assess whether the 2021 Report is reasonable based on factual and legal constraints, with the key legal constraint being the statutory scheme. The statute states that the Minister must report on “plans to continue progress toward . . . achieving the targets referred to in s. 2.” (emphasis added). However, the 2021 Report does not describe plans to continue progress toward achieving several of the targets referred to in s. 2. [14] 22. The remedies sought in this Petition will serve a meaningful and important purpose. The Minister is obligated to produce an annual climate change accountability report that meets the statutory requirements of s. 4.3 of the CCAA. These reports are intended to inform the public and the Legislature each year of British Columbia’s exposure to the risks from climate change and whether British Columbia is on track to meet its emission reduction targets. Findings and declarations by this Court determining what the statute requires in order to ensure this transparency and accountability will impact the information contained in future reports and ensure that British Columbians understand whether the government’s climate plans and policies are effectively reducing emissions. This Petition seeks declaratory relief from this Court to ensure that future annual reports will transparently tell British Columbians whether British Columbia is on track to meet its emission targets. Further, it seeks to quash and remit the current 2021 Report to ensure that the Minister amends it to meet his statutory obligations and report on the plans to continue progress toward achieving targets in 2021. 23. Sierra Club BC has a genuine interest in these issues, having been involved in climate change issues in British Columbia since the 1990s, as well as being specifically involved in the development and critique of the CCAA, the targets referred to in the CCAA, and the provincial climate plans developed between 2018 and 2022. Sierra Club BC has communicated in the media and with the provincial government directly about the organization’s concerns regarding British Columbia’s climate plans. Sierra Club BC has the institutional knowledge to describe the purpose of the different legislated targets and explain why transparent climate reporting on progress toward achieving all of these targets is essential to uphold the Act’s climate change accountability purpose. 24. This Petition is a reasonable and effective means for raising the issue that the 2021 Report lacks information required by the Act. The Minister’s statutory obligation to report on British Columbia’s climate plans to meet legislated targets transcends the private interests of anyone in particular. There is no danger that someone’s private interests will be in conflict with this case, as the issues raised by the case go to whether the Minister has provided the required information to the Legislature and the public under the Act. 25. If public interest standing is not granted to judicially review the Minister’s climate change accountability report, the Minister’s reporting obligation will be effectively immune from review. The reporting obligation is owed to the Legislature and the public at-large, not to any particular private party. Litigants with public interest standing are therefore necessary to ensure that state action conforms to statutory authority and that laws are given effect: Council of Canadians with Disabilities v British Columbia (Attorney General), 2020 BCCA 241, at para 73. This is [15] ..'1 particularly important when the Minister's reporting obligation is the primary way the public can access information integral to understanding whether British Columbia is on track to addressing the existential crisis that is climate change. There are no realistic alternative means for the public to challenge the 2021 Report for failing to meet the statutory requirements of s. 4.3 of the CCAA. F. The remedies sought are available 26. Declaratory relief regarding whether the Minister failed to meet his statutory obligations under the CCAA is available under s. 2(2)(b) of the JRPA because the Minister is exercising a statutory power when preparing a climate change accountability report under s. 4.3 of the CCAA. 27 . In the alternative, declaratory relief is available under s. 2(2)(a) of the JRPAas part of the court's inherent jurisdiction to declare that the Minister has failed to observe a statutory requirement: Taku River Tlingit First Nation v Ringstad,2002BCCA 59, at paras 62-69, Southin JA in dissent (but not on this point), citing Dyson v Attorney General, [ 191 I ] I KB 410 at 421-22. 28. Quashing and setting aside the 2021 Report is an available remedy under ss. 2(2),3,5, and 7 of the JRPA. Part{: MATERIAL TO BE RELIED ON 1. Affidavit #1 of Jens Wieting made29March,2022. 2. Affidavit #2 of Jens Wieting made 30 March,2022. 3. Such further materials as this Honourable Court may allow The Petitioner estimates that the hearing of the Petition will take 2 days. Date o of Petitioner Harry Wruck QC, Hulse, Andhra Azevedo To be completed by the court only: Order made [ ] in the terms requested in paragraphs ...................... of Part I of this petition [ ] with the following variations and additional terms: Date: Signature of [ ] Judge [ ] Master [16]