(Glasgow) Prime Minister François Legault does not rule out one day hosting a United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP) in Quebec.
In 2018 and 2019, the opposition parties had urged the CAQ government to submit its candidacy to organize one of these major UN summits, to no avail. The Prime Minister then suggested that he preferred actions to speeches.
But on Thursday, Mr. Legault opened a door a crack at his final press conference at COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland.
He said that we must weigh the pros and cons, between the significant costs in terms of security and the visibility that such an international event would provide in Quebec.
“Nothing should be excluded,” he replied when asked if he would apply for Quebec to host a COP.
Mr. Legault recognized, among other things, that there are advantages for Quebec to take part in these major international forums: during his three days at the COP in Glasgow, he has repeatedly learned and emphasized to his interlocutors that the Quebec emitted half the greenhouse gases per capita than all of its neighbors in North America.
“We have to make our actions known. I think this is a great opportunity here to come and explain to people what we are doing in Quebec and make known the possibilities for investing in the green economy in Quebec. ”
According to the rules, it is Canada that can submit Quebec’s candidacy to host this UN summit. It is the Premier of Quebec who can request it from the federal government.
In 2019, Chile was due to host COP25, but withdrew due to social unrest.
The opposition parties in Quebec then asked the Legault government to offer to take over.
“At the time, we only had a month or two to prepare that, it was not realistic,” he said.