>> Please press star one to enter the queue. You will be limited to one question and one follow-up. With that, I will hand it over to minister of finance, Selina Robinson. >> Good morning, everyone. I would like to begin by acknowledging we here are on the territory of the peoples. I will talk more about building back better from recent — to make sure that people — today we are here to talk about our commitment to fight climate change. Three years ago our government introduced clean B.C. The most progressive climate plan in North America. Budget 2022 builds on the $2.3 billion in funding allocated for clean B.C. to date and invests even more in the fight against climate change. Some would have chosen to roll back investments given everything we have all seen through this pandemic. We are making a clear choice. A choice to strengthen our investments and build back better. These investments are about all of us.
Connecting our health and our well being with the health and well being of our environment. In budget 2022, we are accelerating actions to help meet the province's green house gas emission targets. With these actions, continue, continue to build a strong sustainable economy. The opportunities are tremendous and even in the face of climate related disasters that we've been through recently, these are exciting opportunities. And with that, I would like to invite minister of environment and climate change strategy to join us with more details.
>> Thank you very much minister Robinson and I want to acknowledge with gratitude that I'm joining you today with the traditional territory of the peoples first nations. Every British Columbian who went through the events of the last 12 months whether it was the heat dome, the wildfires, the flooding, the unpredictable weather events knows that British Columbia has joined those jurisdictions around the world that are on the front line of the climate crisis and are feeling the impacts in very profound ways. That's why today is such a pleasure and it's also so important to announce that British Columbia once again is making record investments through budget 2022 and our clean B.C. climate action program to both fight climate change, to prepare British Columbians and our communities for the impact of the climate change and to build a cleaner, stronger economy for everyone. Today's release of a new U.N. climate report simply underscores the challenges ahead of everyone around the globe. Challenges we know we have to meet.
In particular I was struck by the comments that we not only needed to fight climate change and adapt to it, but we needed to understand the profound impact that climate change is having today on the mental health of our citizens and in particular of young people who are living with uncertainty. We need to invest in security, in liveability, and in a sustainable future. That's why clean B.C. I think is showing a way forward and offering real solutions, not just talk, but real solutions backed up by significant budgetary investments to reduce emissions across our communities, across where we live, and across our transportation systems. We need to continue to have one of the strongest plans climate plans if not the strongest climate plan in North America. Of course, our programs have receives international recognition, one of the programs I will speak about later that supports our industry to decarbonize was recognized in Glasgow as an award winning most creative climate solution program. The planet to road map to 2030 accelerates the actions we had underway and expands a number of them and we will continue to do that. We will continue to look at the success of our programs that opportunities for making our programs better, for moving up timelines as we have, for instance, in vehicles in order to — zero emission vehicles in order to reduce emission.
We are investing $1.2 billion in new funding across all sectors building on the $2.3 billion that have already been budgeted in the past to implement our clean B.C. programs. That includes investments in transportation, in new technologies, and particularly to support communities around British Columbia. We are launching a new local government climate action program that is designed to help communities fight climate change, reduce their emissions and make their communities both healthier and stronger right across B.C. We designed the program with input from representatives on the climate solutions council from both urban and interior municipalities as well as from the union of B.C. municipalities. I know in a moment minister Collin will talk about this program in more detail. In addition to that program, budget 2022 also means that hundreds of millions of dollars in new developments will spur clean technology, innovation and jobs in British Columbia through the clean B.C.
Program for industry. The but why the will support people as they — the budget will support the people that they want to make to clean transportation, to electric vehicles. There is record funding for more rebates to make this switch more affordable. Nearly $250 million through our low carbon fuel standard credits. We already seen people in British Columbia respond in record numbers. We have the highest uptake of zero emission vehicles per capita across North America and three years ago when we set our target for 2025, we didn't expect that we would blow passed that target in 2021. We are already at 13% when our target was ten and that led us to update our target to ensure that we will achieve 90% zero emission vehicles for all new car sales by 2030 and 100% by 2035. We are also making a range of other clean options more affordable through tax supports. We are removing the provincial sales tax on electric vehicle sales of used electric vehicles and we are doing the same for the purchase of new heat pumps and will continue to support low and moderate income people with $120 million added to carbon tax relief through the climate action tax credit for low and moderate income people.
One of the hallmarks is to ensure that the plan remain focused on people that we are building opportunities for people in a new clean economy while at the same time addressing their fears for the future and their concerns about affordability today. We are working with indigenous communities, the budget invests in the indigenous forest bio economy program. Let me give you one example A little over a decade ago I was a guest of the people in Hartley bay and they were celebrating around that period of time transferring off diesel generated electricity to small local hydro that they had built.
Today in this remote community with leadership from Christa who is on the screen behind me who has served as the health director for the nation's health department for four years the entire community, 52 homes have electric heat pumps installed. They were installed with support from the clean B.C. indigenous community heat pump program and not only are there electricity bills going down as they will for everyone who adopts heat pumps, they also double as air conditioners to ensure that we can live in safety and comfort if we experience future events like last summer's heat dome. This is what kept people safe in Hartley bay during last summer's heat wave and one example of the kind of supports we are offering indigenous people through clean B.C. as we address the climate crisis moving forward. There are many more road map actions that need to be implemented in a short time period. I continue to work with staff and the climate action secretary to review our programs to improve them and ensure they are effective and ensure they are cost efficient for British Columbians and all of this requires all of us working together and that's what this budget does across all sectors.
I now would like to pass it over to minister Nathan Collin to talk about our efforts to support and work with local governments and communities as we implement clean B.C. >> Thank you. Good morning everyone. I would like to acknowledge that we are speaking to you from the people's territories and I'm so thrilled to be here for this event. This is my first media event as the new minister municipal affairs and what an excellent subject to be talking about. Fighting the climate crisis with such incredible partners and the ministers of environment and finance.
From wildfires to extreme heat to flooding and mud slides, this place we call home has never been at greater risk from the effects of climate change. When B.C. communities were hit with multiple devastating weather events, local governments were on the front lines providing critical services to people where they need it the most. Local governments have always been there for British Columbians when it comes to driving action for climate change and that's why our government is going to be there for them.
187 local governments signed on to the climate action charter and today we are investing in cleaner energy, sustainable infrastructure, and reducing pollution. We are all inspired by the leadership local governments have shown in protecting people and communities from climate change and the steps they continue to take. Like the City of Kamloops who is looking to reduce emissions by 80% while increasing their resilience to the impacts of climate change. The town of golden who has committed to transitioning to 100% renewable energy by 2050. And my communities across the northwest we've seen communities like Smithers and terrace take on huge efforts in their infrastructure and programming to make sure they are playing their part. I know that many local governments have big ambitions to fight climate change, and the province is here to support those goals and to amplify their work. As our local partners because we know the only way we will reach our climate goals is if we work together. We have heard the call from local governments for a flexible predictable funding program to help them achieve their climate goals and budget 2022 delivers on those calls.
76 million-dollars over three years for local governments to plan and implement projects that support clean B.C. road map. The climate preparedness and adaptation strategy and their local climate action objectives. This program was developed with input from the climate solutions council including representatives from rural and urban regions of the province and the UBCM and we are grateful for their help. My colleague minister look forward to sharing more details about the program in coming weeks. This is just one more example of the actions we are taking to support local governments as they face climate change objectives of tomorrow. We revitalized the green community's committee. A partnership between the union of B.C. municipalities and the province to support the progress local governments have made toward reducing their green house gas emissions and creating more complete compact and energy efficient communities. Through this committee ministry and local government staff are working together on a climate program that will provide communities with supports to make better land use decisions.
We will have more to say about this in the coming months. This past year has been incredibly challenging. For many British Columbians and local leaders have been on the front lines of keeping people and communities safe from extreme weather and natural disaster. It's clear that many of these communities still need financial support to wholly recover from the impacts and we know it's critical that infrastructure is built back to a more resilient standard. My colleagues and I across government will continue to work with all orders of government to support recovery and respond to the financial needs of communities as they work to rebuild public infrastructure that people rely on.
I will be sharing more of this as well in the future. I would now like to turn the attention over to our friend from Kamloops, to say a few words. Thank you very much. >> So I also want to acknowledge I'm coming to you today from the ancestral territory in the City of Kamloops. I am a councilor. I should preface the opportunity to say welcome to minister culllan for a really important job. You have big foot steps to fill with minister Osborne.
Welcome. I look forward to many opportunities to discuss with you a lot of different important files. I did have a chance to talk this morning with our President. I'm a life member of UBCM but our current President and it's very excited by this and they will be talking more about that as the days and weeks go by for sure. None of this climate work is particularly easy but it's a massive opportunity for us to all work together across governments, across political parties, a whole society approach. I would note that I think there is an increasing ambition on the part of local governments across the province as they lean into this work as a result of the province and the federal level.
With Kamloops, we did this last year on the hottest day in recorded history in Kamloops. The city council in Kamloops unanimously approved a climate action plan that is very ambitious that actually does try to meet the goals set out in Paris and do our part to meet those goals locally in our community. And we are looking at things that are all around the community, looking at things around transportation and electric vehicles, just bicycles, walking, active transportation in that way, looking at our land use patterns and looking at building records and new buildings and trying to meet all of the code goals that we all have and also retrofitting existing building stock is going to be a big opportunity and a big challenge.
So very obviously this money that our colleagues have made available is going to be extremely useful to us. Obviously designs still to come, but I think the actual idea is three times the amount of what the old funding was is very exciting for Kamloops and for our region. One of the things I always said to myself is plans are one thing, you have to start investing in those plans and putting them into budgets within the City of Kamloops and across local governments we are going through our budgeting process right now and we are actually in the City of C Kamloops of puttig a budget line in for climate which we've never done before. It's an exciting time to be working with our federal colleagues to make sure that we are all meeting this moment. Coming from a region of the province that was — has been devastated by extreme weather, the mitigation aspects on all of the things could make it not any worse going forward is so very important to us and we feel it viscerally in terms of the work we have to do.
And we are excited for this new popular money. We are worried when it went away. And I think really appreciate the opportunity for the province to listen to local government now and going forward. Obviously on these important files. So I do see the province climate solution council and I'm happy for that appointment and I'm also thankful for the work we've done there with the minister and the ministry of environmental climate change to help shape this funding stream. Thanks again. I think I will turn it back over to minister Robinson, a dear friend of mine who we miss in municipal affairs but has done a great job in finance.
Minister, over to you. >> Thank you. And I miss you, too. So I would like to introduce Neil Johnson, the incoming CEO of the Frazier acadmy a K-12 school which specializes in education for learners with dyslexia, the academy was one of the first schools in B.C. to purchase an electric school bus under the clean B.C. go electric program. Neil joins us from Vancouver. >> Thank you, minister. I'm delighted to be here today on behalf of Frazier academy. Frazier academy benefit from the specialty use vehicle incentive program in 2021. We were thrilled to receive this grand rebate.
As a non-profit and charity it was key in helping us afford a new electric bus for our students and to continue our efforts to become a greener and more responsible organization. Frazier academy knows it has to play an active part in addressing climate change. Purchasing this electric bus with the sport of the clean B.C. program is so important for our entire community. And it helped us to introduce our first electric bus to our fleet which may well be the first electric school bus in the province. We are actually able to purchase it from the local company called green power motor company who is in the BC in helping organizations reduce their carbon footprint. We know that today's youth are rightly holding governments and organizations more responsible for addressing climate change. Our students were thrilled absolutely thrilled actually to see us take this further action. It also showed to our staff and community that we are increasing our commitments to be a more environmentally conscious organization. Thank you again for the opportunity to — B.C. programs. 100% they helped influence our commitment to be greener and more responsible. We hoped to benefit from future programs as we continue these efforts and we certainly applaud today's launch by the ministers.
Thank you for your leadership as B.C. importantly continues to address climate change. Thank you, minister. >> Thank you, Neil. Thank you for sharing the perspective of student and their passion for knowing that as a government and as a government we are working hard to make sure that the planet that we call home is there for future generations. So investing in the low carbon economy supporting cleaner transportation and energy efficient buildings initiatives to decarbonize and reduce the emissions from communities, innovative programs that re-use and collect plastic materials from the existing waste stream. Giving B.C. a chance to advance as a circular economy and fundamentally change for the better. Moving forward with clean technovation and partnership opportunities. This is the clean B.C. that will make us all proud.
And make us ready together for the fight ahead against climate change so that we can all have a stronger future. Thank you very much for joining us and I'm here to help coordinate responses to any questions that you may have. >> Thank you very much. A reminder to media on the line please press star one to enter the queue. You will be limited to one question and one follow-up. Our first question comes from CBC. >> Hi there. My question is for minister. So we are hearing about money to reduce pollution emissions and set environmental goals.
The intergovernment panel on climate change report has been released and it's that Canada can expect heavy rainfall and flooding to continue like we've had in the last year. Things have happened in B.C. How is the government preparing to manage more of these disasters in the years ahead? >> Thank you very much for the question. We are doing a number of things for the — in the last fiscal year we Phase 1 of our climate preparedness and adaptation strategy while we put out the more complete Phase 2 of the strategy for public comment.
We are very, very close to announcing the implementation of a range of measures from Phase 2 of that program whether it's flood plain mapping, whether it's support for communities in the province to do climate monitoring and modeling and a number of locations around the province. We've seen other initiatives through year-round wildfire service to work on mitigating the risk of wildfires. We are helping communities that were devastated by the atmospheric river flooding to re-build but we are not stopping there. The $83 million in this year's budget, budget 2022 for the climate preparedness and adaptation strategy will help us determine where communities are at greatest risk and what we need to do to lower that risk and ensure that people remain safe in the impacts that we will see from climate change in the future. >> Do you have a follow-up. >> No, I'm fine, thank you. For our next question we will go to city news.
>> Taking a different topic here and I'm hoping minister robins you will be able to help us out. Looking at Ukraine and Russia and B.C.'s investments in Russian owned entities, I'm wondering what B.C. can do and what the province is considering and how soon that could happen and in the longer term could — the forfeiture process be used for any entities owned here or properties owned here that might be owned by someone who is in Russia and backing this ult — ultimately backing Russia and this invasion on Ukraine? >> Thank you for the question. So likely already heard that we've taken Russian spirits and beers out of our liquor stores. That action we took last week. I've asked staff to take a look at the land owner transparency act to see what information we have. The RCMP have full access to that. And we are working in coordination with the Federal Government to make sure that we are continuing to do our part as British Columbians to make it really clear about this egregious act being taken by Russia on Ukraine is not acceptable and we are continuing to explore other ways with the leadership of the Federal Government to deliver our commitment to support the people of Ukraine.
>> Do you have a follow-up? >> I do. Actually on behalf — working on this story today, realtors and real estate industry on the sales side of things is frustrated with the cooling off period that the province has said saying it will harm their — ultimately harm them and their ability to do business. I am wondering what your response is to that? >> We've been saying all along when you have an overheated market we are seeing people really challenged and stressed with having to make decisions on the spot without getting inspection, making sure their financing is in order and creating challenges and consumer protection challenges for people who are making the largest financial decision of their lives and that's why we said we would bring in a cooling off period and why we tasked the BCSFA to do the consultation with all components with all stakeholders in their real estate industry.
Understanding how — what's the best way to move forward on this and I know that I certainly heard from the realtors and their concerns but that's why we asked the BCSFSA to provide an analysis about how to best move forward. >> For the next question we go to Richard Sussman, global news. Just to get some specifics, minister, on the first question. Should the BC investment management corporation diverse more than 4 — divest in $450 million in investments in Russian government and Russian owned companies? >> B.C. very much management corporation is separate from government because of the risk of conflict of interest so we don't direct them. So I think it's really up to them to make those decisions on behalf of their — on the folks that invest with them.
>> Richard, do you have a follow-up? >> Considering the minister of finance's role with BCIMC you could no doubt provide overall guidance? Is the position of your government one that major pension investment fund should or should not be investing in these major Russian companies? >> Again, it's arms length and it's completely separate and for good reason so that there is no conflict of interest. So they do make their decisions independent of government influence. >> For the next question we go to Dave, C p-KG radio. >> For minister hayman, please. Regarding the B.C. wildfires, what role does the B.C. wildfire staff play as a way to fight climate change? >> The purpose of establishing the B.C. wildfire service as a year-round service was partly in recognition of both the earlier and the longer fire seasons as well as the intensity. But it was also a recognition that those professionals who fight wildfires, if we want to keep the most skilled and experienced wildfire fighters in the B.C.
Public service as part of the wildfire service, they need some security of income and we want to and we need to take advantage of their knowledge about fire behavior to help us predict and take action to mitigate the risk, whether it's working with indigenous people on traditional cultural prescribed burning, the history that B.C. has had of our own prescribed burning programs, different programs we've had in the past to reduce interface fuels. There are a range of measures that the wildfire service will be, I'm sure, undertaking. The detail of course you would have to get from the minister of forest. This is an important shift in British Columbia's approach to both wildfires and ensuring that we knit together the measures to protect British Columbians from the impacts of climate change with those professionals who have been fighting fires for years. >> Dave, did you have a follow-up? >> No, that's it. Thank you so much. >> Thank you very much. We have time for one more question today. We will go to Nelson benefit, business in Vancouver.
>> Yes, a lot of what you spoke about today is essentially a recap of what was in the provincial budget last week. I presume what's new here is this new fund for local governments. Is it 76 million? I was just wondering is that the main thing that's new here? And also just maybe hoping to get some explanation of what sort of initiatives that funding might fund at the local level. >> A couple of differences and they are significant. One is significantly more dollars because we realized the challenges in front of us are of this scale and great.
And a deepening of the partnership with our local municipalities and modern treaty nations as the ones on the front lines who will be able to implement this is the co-development of making the program as we talked about flexible and also something that people can rely on when councils and mayors modern treaty nations are making their plans knowing that they have something in place that they can count on and it goes out over a number of years and has the kind of flexibility they need to make the programs work for their communities in the best way to fight the climate crisis and make their communities more resilient for the number of things we talked about.
That's what innovative and marked improvement the President of UBCM and others have said over what was done with communities that were fighting the climate crisis. >> Did you have a follow-up? >> Thank you. >> All right, with no follow-up that will conclude today's availability. Thank you everybody for being available and joining us..