(Dubai, United Arab Emirates) Quebec is “certainly one of the most active federated states” on the issue of climate change, which explains its significant presence in international conferences such as COP28, welcomes Benoit Charette.
“It can be explained very simply by our actions and our records,” he said in an interview with The PressSaturday, on its last day at the conference, on a shaded terrace adjacent to the premises occupied by the Quebec government delegation.
Minister Charette had just participated in a panel discussion on how the protection of biodiversity can contribute to the fight against climate change, in one of the largest rooms of the conference center, a so-called high-level session. because it brought together ministers representing the states parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change – the Canadian Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Steven Guilbeault, also participated.
PHOTO CHRISTOPHER PIKE, COP28/CHRISTOPHER PIKE
Canadian Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Steven Guilbeault
“We are often the only ones on panels [comme celui-là]with ministers from the countries,” boasts Benoit Charette.
Beyond these public panels, Quebec is also very involved in lateral discussions, and even in the negotiations, since a representative of the Quebec government is part of Canada’s team of negotiators, explains the elected official under “Minister of the Environment, the Fight against Climate Change, Wildlife and Parks”.
The minister says he is particularly proud of the Quebec protocol of carbon offset credits for forestry, which his negotiator is “in the process of selling internationally”.
This protocol has the particularity of being “payable” only after several years, when the trees planted will have actually sequestered carbon, unlike other protocols under which credits are granted upon planting, explains the minister.
Ultimately, it is perhaps the Quebec model that will serve as a reference across the planet. This is the kind of leadership we exercise.
Benoit Charette, Quebec Minister of the Environment
Plea for less “partisanship”
Minister Charette is a little annoyed when we point out to him the criticism concerning his government’s climate action in Quebec.
“When we are in opposition, we are forced to say that the government is bad,” he said, calling for partisanship to be put aside to make the fight against climate change more effective.
Benoit Charette wants to lead by example, emphasizing being in constant contact with his “liberal colleague” Désirée McGraw, spokesperson for the official opposition on the environment and the fight against climate change, who also participated in the COP28.
“We are even talking about a common project, which remains to be defined, to work better together [en général, au Québec] “, he mentions, even throwing flowers at his opponents.
“Quebec’s record, the current government has given it a lot of credibility, but there are great things that have been done before too,” he said, citing in particular the carbon market, to which three different governments have contributed over the past 10 years. .
I have never said and I will never say that it all started when I became Minister of the Environment.
Benoit Charette
Outreach “comes with responsibility”
It is “true that Quebec shines a lot at the COP, particularly this year,” notes climate policy analyst from the Équiterre organization, Andréanne Brazeau, who is also participating in COP28.
The fact that Quebec co-chairs the Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance (BOGA), which works to gradually abandon oil and gas production, “shows the place [qu’il] seeks to occupy [sur] the international scene,” she illustrates.
“On the other hand, it comes with a responsibility internationally, in Canada and in Quebec,” she adds immediately, suggesting that Minister Charette should take the opportunity to put pressure on Ottawa to be more ambitious. in the negotiations at COP28 on the exit from fossil fuels.
And for Quebec’s action to be “truly complete and coherent”, it should redouble its efforts to reduce its consumption of fossil fuels, says Mme Brazeau.
“It’s all well and good not to produce any, but around 50% of the energy we consume [tous domaines confondus] is still fossil energy”, she underlines, pointing to “fairly easy” gains to be made by banning new gas connections, improving the energy efficiency of buildings, curbing urban sprawl and stopping to build new road infrastructure.
Benoit Charette agrees: “Our role now is to gradually reduce our dependence on fossil fuels,” he says, pleading, however, that this takes time.
“The challenge we have, on a structural level, is that it takes too much time,” laments the minister, who considers it abnormal that a project like the extension of the blue line of the Montreal metro took 40 years.
Same thing for the transport of goods, too dependent on trucking since the decline of the rail and maritime networks.
“We are in the process of doing it again,” he said, citing his government’s maritime and rail strategies. The train will return to eastern Quebec. »
Other measures to combat climate change are added each year, recalls Minister Charette, who specifies that his government has taken on the obligation to adopt a new target for reducing Quebec emissions during its this mandate.
“We cannot repair all the mistakes or lack of vision of the past, but we can certainly assume greater leadership,” he said. Being good doesn’t mean stopping there. »