A new report says that despite bold moves, Quebec hasn’t undertaken the necessary “structural changes” needed to meet its targets.
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Quebec’s approach to fighting climate change has always been a bit of a paradox.
We are blessed with relatively clean hydroelectricity that puts us on the leading edge of efforts to transition away from fossil fuels and develop renewable energy. We have the lowest carbon emissions in North America.
Yet Quebecers are among the biggest per capita consumers of power in the world, to the point of seeing access to cheap electricity as their birthright. And we love gas-guzzling sport utility vehicles.
It’s one step forward, two steps back, even as the world blows past every guardrail for containing global warming to 1.5 C and the window narrows by the year on our chances for averting existential disaster.
So it should come as a surprise to absolutely no one that Quebec isn’t doing nearly enough to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions.
Since 1990, Quebec has cut its total emissions by 8.9 per cent. But greenhouse gases from transportation have climbed 16 per cent.
The committee prescribes a “reduction in demand for individual motorized travel” through both land-use planning and the development of public, shared and active transit.
Quebec’s strategy of financial aid and incentives isn’t enough to slash our greenhouse gas output, the committee said, so more constraints must be added. For instance, Quebec should increase the price of carbon in the cap-and-trade market. The government should also adopt a “carbon budget” and draft action plans for different sectors.
Quebec also has yet to undertake the “structural” changes to take us to a decarbonized future, the committee noted; that would necessitate both energy sobriety and transitioning from fossil fuels to renewables like wind and solar.
But most of all, Quebec needs to mobilize citizens to do their part.
Too often we hear the excuse that Quebec accounts for only a tiny fraction of global emissions, so we shouldn’t bother.
Hogwash.
The entire world has waited too long to tackle the climate emergency, ignoring the warnings and moving too slowly. It’s not all on Quebec’s shoulders, to be sure. But Quebec is actually well positioned to blaze a trail.
As Alain Webster, the president of the committee wrote: “Even thought the challenges are colossal, Quebec is probably one of the states that is best placed to achieve this transition in the short time that the climate transition requires. Successfully decarbonizing quickly and adapting to the climate crisis will necessitate an integration of these priorities in the missions of all other ministries and organizations of the Quebec government, as well as on a municipal and regional scale. The efforts must measure up to what the science demands.”
If Quebec leads the way, maybe others will follow.