B.C.’s mining sector is not concerned after Canada joined six other western countries in the phase-out of “existing unabated coal power generation” by 2035.
British Columbia is Canada’s largest producer of coal, accounting for 59 per cent of all Canadian coal exports as of 2022/ It is also Canada’s largest exporter of steelmaking coal, and coal consistently fetches the highest returns relative to other mined exports. In 2022, for example, coal accounted for 67 per cent of all B.C.’s mineral production valued at $18.2 billion with copper a distant second.
Environmentalists point to thermal coal’s contribution to climate change. The emergence of cheaper alternative energy sources such as wind and solar power has raised questions about the economics of thermal coal, and several leading energy companies are getting out of the thermal coal business.B.C. does not burn thermal coal for power, but four Canadian provinces do.