Provincial Inventory of greenhouse gas emissions

B.C.'s Provincial Inventory of Greenhouse Gas Emissions (Provincial Inventory) reports province-wide greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and removals and is published every year, covering emissions from 1990 onwards.

The Provincial Inventory (XLSX, 330KB) is published annually and covers all emissions included in B.C.'s legislated economy-wide and sectoral emissions reduction targets.

Emissions are broken down by:

• Internationally-defined emissions activity categories (fuel combustion, industrial process, etc.)
• The economic sectors that produce them
• Types of GHGs

For information purposes only, the Provincial Inventory also lists other land use emissions that are mainly due to natural causes largely outside of direct human control, such as wildfires and insect outbreaks.

On this page

• Provincial Inventory and the National Inventory Report
• Summary of latest emissions data
• Differences between the Provincial Inventory and the National Inventory Report
• Differences between the current and previous versions of the Provincial Inventory

Provincial Inventory and the National Inventory Report

B.C.'s Provincial Inventory is based on the Government of Canada's National Inventory Report (NIR) which includes emissions data that is roughly two years old.

Due to the complexity of the data, the federal government requires approximately two years to collect and compute all the necessary data to produce the inventory. The Government of Canada sends the Province preliminary inventory data and methodology descriptions to review and cross-check for accuracy before the NIR is finalized and published.

Summary of latest emissions data

The latest GHG data for B.C. is for 2022, based on the NIR published in May 2024. In 2022, B.C.'s gross GHG emissions, as reported in the Provincial Inventory, were 65.6 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (MtCO₂e). This is an increase of 0.1 MtCO₂e (+0%) from 65.5 MtCO₂e in 2007, the baseline year for our emissions reduction and sectoral targets.

Net emissions in 2022, after including 1.5 MtCO₂e of carbon sequestration by forest management offset projects not covered in the Provincial Inventory, were 64.1 MtCO₂e.

Differences between the Provincial Inventory and the National Inventory Report

GHG estimates for land-use change in emissions totals

The Provincial Inventory differs from the NIR by including GHG estimates for land-use change in emissions totals. Land-use change emissions, primarily afforestation and deforestation emissions and removals, are included in the Provincial Inventory because there is greater direct human control over these emissions than over other land use source emissions.

Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF) emissions details

Starting in 2024, the Provincial Inventory reports LULUCF emissions in greater detail than the NIR. The updated structure enhances reporting granularity without altering the total LULUCF emissions, or the method used to produce them, which would remain the same if the previous reporting structure applied.

Other differences

Any other differences are documented each year in the Provincial Inventory Methodology Report and the Provincial Inventory Method Changes and Exceptions Table.

Provincial Inventory Methodology Report

The Provincial Inventory Methodology Report (PDF, 728KB) provides a description of the scope of each inventory line item and a summary of the methods and data sources used in preparing the Provincial Inventory. As the Provincial Inventory data comes from the NIR, the methodology report gives specific references to the relevant sections of the NIR for more in-depth methodology information.

Provincial Inventory Method Changes and Exceptions Table

The Provincial Inventory Method Changes and Exceptions Table (PDF, 158KB) tracks differences from the NIR and also records any temporary deviations from the usual methods described in the methodology report. Year-to-year changes to the methods used to produce the NIR are not tracked in the table—they are documented in the NIR itself.

Differences between the current and previous versions of the Provincial Inventory

The current Provincial Inventory may differ from previous inventories due to the backcasting of methodology and data improvements. Backcasting involves integrating any new improved methods or data sources to not only the latest year, but also to all prior years as applicable. This ensures data is comparable over time within each inventory. As a result, previous versions of the inventory may differ from the current version.