In recent years, natural disasters due to climate change have increased. They cause a lot of damage with ever-increasing costs, hamper supply and cause suffering and death.
Posted at 1:00 p.m.
In order to fight against climate change, the Legault government published in 2020 the Plan for a green economy 2030. Outlining the main lines of the measures to be adopted in the next decade, this plan is mainly focused on the electrification of transport and the energetic efficiency. The government is calling on the municipalities and the health system, among others, who are indeed important players in this fight. Does this plan go far enough to act on the climate crisis? Could it be improved?
It is here that the Sustainable Development Act du Québec, adopted in 2006, may prove useful. For the moment, it is applied only to ministries and other government agencies.
It would be possible to enhance it in such a way as to make a fair and equitable transition on the social, environmental and economic levels. How? ‘Or’ What ? By transforming it into a real social project, as mentioned in the law.
In this regard, the Sustainable Development Commissioner has rightly proposed on many occasions that municipalities and the health and education systems be subject to it, as section 4 of the act would allow. Why is this so important? A greater number of people would be able to carry out the mission of sustainable development which consists, let us remember, of providing for the needs of the current population, while ensuring that future generations can provide for theirs. This would improve our quality of life while better protecting the environment.
How could we go about it? Working on a small scale (within the departments within the government or even in the communities) would simplify the participation of citizens in order to take into account the various points of view according to the environment. A sense of belonging would develop, as well as solidarity, which is essential to face the major upheavals that are already being felt.
Another important aspect of the Sustainable Development Act is compliance with all 16 principles listed therein, ranging from health and quality of life to the polluter-pays principle.
In the government plan, the precautionary principle seems set aside: the fight against climate change is seen as an opportunity for economic growth and not a real opportunity to change our ways of doing things. When we know that the government plans, among other things, to relax the regulations on wetlands and the standards for the exploitation of lithium, we can only say that it is the classic “business as usual” that remains, that resource exploitation dominates…
We should not replace the exploitation of one resource by another without reviewing our habits. We cannot ignore some of the principles of Sustainable Development Act in the name of economic growth.
The improvements to its application proposed here – broadening and better adherence to the principles – would enrich the Green Economy 2030 Plan. It is far from too late. In this election year, it would be good to take the opportunity to finally move forward.