(Quebec) Under pressure from environmental groups and its activist base, Quebec solidaire is revising upward its target for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
Saturday, at the party convention where the electoral platform is defined, the militants adopted by majority an emergency proposal aimed at “reducing Quebec’s emissions by at least 55% compared to the 1990 level by 2030, by getting as close as possible to the 65% target encouraged by social movements, taking into account in particular our international responsibilities in terms of solidarity and North-South cooperation ”.
This target is more ambitious than what the party authorities had put into play in the proposal book, namely “at least 45%”.
By way of comparison, the Legault government has set itself the objective of reducing GHG emissions by 37.5%, still compared to the 1990 level, by 2030. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) recommends that states aim for 50%.
Quebec solidaire activists clearly wanted a target higher than 45%. Riding associations have called for it to be revised upwards and have submitted an amendment in the last few days to set it at “at least 65%”. Just before the start of COP26, environmental groups demanded that Quebec give itself this objective to do its “fair share” in order to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
At the start of discussions on this issue, QS co-spokesperson Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois submitted an urgent proposal to revise the target initially submitted. Thus he suggested “at least 55%” by getting “as close as possible to the target of 65%”.
He tried to dissuade activists from adopting the threshold of at least 65%. “It would be extremely difficult to achieve with concrete quantified measures,” he pleaded, praising the merits of his emergency proposal.
You don’t have to choose between ambition and feasibility. You have to do both. You have to be the most credible and the most ambitious at the same time. This is what the climate emergency demands of us. It is our historical responsibility.
Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, co-spokesperson for Québec solidaire
While activists have come out in favor of his plea, others have called for the party to go further and have called for a target of at least 65%. The latter pleaded to nationalize polluting industries, without financially compensating private companies, and criticized that the party is betting above all on eco-taxation, a measure which “does not bother the capitalists”.
“With 65%, that means that we are leaving the capitalist framework, and we have a managed economy […] democratically controlled with a leftist party, ”argued activist Marc Bonhomme. “By being radical, we would live in a much friendlier society. ”
For Olivier Huard, who has already been responsible for the party’s environmental commission, the emergency proposal remains ambitious “without being too far ahead of the population”. “There is a limit to what a party can do in terms of education” with voters, said the former candidate. “The higher the target, the more demanding it is. I tell you to tie your toque with a brooch, because our next green plan is going to be brewing a lot anyway. ”
Activists rejected the original proposal for a target of at least 45%. Then, between the emergency proposal and the objective of at least 65%, they preferred the first option.
The members also supported a proposal that Quebec solidaire “undertake to nationalize under regional control all industries producing renewable energies. (wind, solar, etc.) in order to complement the public nature of energy production in Quebec and to plan its development ”.
Québec solidaire makes the climate emergency “the top priority”. “We will have the greenest electoral platform in our history,” said Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois during a press briefing.
“We can be an ambitious party, for example in the fight against climate change, and be credible and rigorous in our proposals. This is the balance we want to find at the end of the week. He believes that Québec solidaire can make an “effort” to be “even closer to people’s concerns” and to have “more concrete, more detailed, more pragmatic proposals”.