A highly anticipated report from B.C.’s auditor general says the provincial government did not actually live up to its claim of becoming carbon neutral in 2010.

John Doyle’s report, released today (March 27), focuses on a key part of the government’s strategy to achieve the objective that involved purchasing carbon offsets.

The offsets are credits for greenhouse-gas reductions that can be exchanged from one organization to another.

In his 34-page report, Doyle found most of the carbon offsets the province purchased to reach the 2010 goal lacked credibility.

In particular, the audit looked at $6-million worth of offset purchases the Pacific Carbon Trust, a provincial Crown corporation, made from two major B.C. projects: the Darkwoods Forest Carbon project and the Encana Underbalanced Drilling project.

Doyle determined there was no indication the purchase of those offsets was a necessary incentive for the projects to move forward.

“Offsets can only be credible in British Columbia if, among other things, the revenue from their sale is the tipping point in moving forward on a project,” Doyle said in a news release.

“It must be an incentive, not a subsidy, for the reduction of GHGs. However, neither project was able to demonstrate that the sale of offsets was needed for the project to be implemented.”

Among his recommendations, Doyle calls for emission-reduction targets for individual public sector organizations, more rigorous review of offset purchases, and stronger oversight of whether offset purchases are credible.

The B.C. government has accepted Doyle’s recommendations, saying improvements to the offset program are already under way. However, the province rejected the auditor general’s finding the government has not become carbon neutral.

"British Columbia became the first carbon neutral government in North America in 2010 and is recognized as a world leader in climate action—I stand by our achievements," Environment Minister Terry Lake said in a news release.

"The audit was limited in scope—only covering B.C.'s first year as a carbon neutral government and the first two offsets purchased by Pacific Carbon Trust—and does not reflect the changes made to B.C.'s offset system as the market has evolved."

Meanwhile, the B.C. New Democrats said Doyle’s audit shows the government’s carbon-offset plan is deeply flawed.

“The audit shows that the government took funds from cash-strapped school districts and hospitals to pay an oil and gas company to do a project they were going to do anyway,” environment critic Rob Fleming said in a news release.

“While the auditor’s findings are significant, many British Columbians had already concluded that the way the B.C. Liberals configured the Pacific Carbon Trust made no sense.”