Climate action | The beginning of an ecological movement?

The latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reminds us that our policies in place are heading us towards global warming of 3.2°C, putting life as we know it at risk.

Hugo Cordeau

PhD student at the University of Toronto

So it’s easy to fall into doomerism^⁠1 — for those not already consumed by eco-anxiety. However, the federal government’s budget brightens up the ambient mood a little with its $83 billion earmarked for the energy transition.

I am optimistic, you will say to me, but I believe that we are facing something like the beginning of an ecological movement.

The latter is fueled by the alignment of low-carbon technologies (renewable energy, heat pumps and sustainable and active mobility) with the popular and political will to act in the face of the climate crisis.

If renewable energy is the pillar of the energy transition, the Russian invasion on Ukrainian soil, combined with theInflation Reduction Act (IRA) of US President Joe Biden, is the trigger.

The Russian invasion destabilized global natural gas and oil markets, creating massive demand for stable energy systems. In the short term, Europe has turned to the world market in order to obtain natural gas, but it is particularly difficult and expensive to obtain gas overseas; costly infrastructure must be built and the gas liquefied. Moreover, spending billions of dollars to depend again and again on foreign forces is not attractive; countries are therefore seeking the stability as well as the economic benefits that renewable energy offers. In addition, it deploys much faster than liquefied natural gas (LNG) ports and reduces GHGs.

Favorable trilemma

The energy trilemma – economy, security and the environment – ​​now works in favor of renewable energies. This is also what explains Europe’s ambitious climate and industrial policies.

That said, here we are on the other side of the Atlantic in the summer of 2022 and inflation is raging. The US President, seeing the midterm elections coming, is short on solutions and seeks to leave his mark – the IRA will be his legacy. Hundreds of billions of dollars are intended to stimulate the green economy^⁠2.

The title seems misleading: how can we reduce inflation with subsidies?

Well, think again, high energy prices are a significant source of inflation. Biden therefore kills three birds with one stone: he stimulates the American economy, reduces inflation and fights climate change. IRA plans to reduce US GHGs by 42%^⁠3 between 2005 and 2030. For green companies, this is the boost they have been waiting for.

But now the European and Canadian business communities are worried: their competitors are being offered huge subsidies. They therefore call on their own governments to do the same. So Europe gets its Green New Deal, and Canada offers a Canadian version of the IRA through its latest budget.

In both cases, these are tens, even hundreds of billions of dollars earmarked for the energy transition. Companies can now make profits while reducing their carbon footprint.

Others will adapt their business models to tackle the climate crisis – something that would not be possible without these programs.

Is it sufficient ? Of course not and the IPCC was very sharp!

For example, carbon capture can make offshore oil projects, such as Bay du Nord, carbon neutral. It’s absurd: oil pollutes. This label with greenwashing aftertaste is only possible because Ottawa calculates its emissions with blinkers^⁠4. The same can be said of blue hydrogen^⁠5 which would be as polluting as coal in view of the natural gas leaks from hydraulic fracturing. Moreover, these leaks jeopardize the health of residents living nearby.

Conversely, energy sobriety and active mobility are effective and affordable measures, but omitted from this budget.

It remains that this budget weaves the industrial network necessary for a green economy. These policies are both remarkable and insufficient – ​​we are not even close to doing our fair share to stay below 1.5°C.

The climate movement must therefore accelerate and this budget reaches out to entrepreneurs to join the movement.

1. Doomerism boomer) is a term of English origin that describes the concern about the collapse of civilization linked to overpopulation, pollution and global warming, which could ultimately lead to the extinction of humanity.

5. Resulting from the separation of methane (CH₄) and combined with carbon capture