If it wants to hope to be able to face the inevitable impacts of the climate crisis, Quebec must not only review the way it designs infrastructure and take adaptation into account in all of its decisions, but it must also stop the destruction of natural environments and work to restore those that have been degraded by human activity, including forests.
Proof of the importance of acting to protect ecosystems and the biodiversity they support, the Group of Experts on Adaptation to Climate Change (GEA) placed this objective at the top of the list of 20 “recommendations” made at the Legault government to accelerate Quebec’s adaptation to climate change, a project that promises to be historic.
“Without adequate adaptation measures, we will respond to climate hazards by assuming ever-increasing damage and restoration costs in addition to weakening ecosystems, human well-being, health and the economy” , they warn in the document submitted to the government and made public on Tuesday.
Their report is entitled Act today so that Quebec adapts to the reality of accelerating climate change and its publication is more timely than ever, according to its co-president Alain Bourque, general director of Ouranos, since it comes the day after a tornado which hit the Montérégie region. “We are moving from a world where the climate was stationary to a world where the climate will constantly change” over the coming decades, he specifies.
However, our “resilience” in the face of warming which gets worse every year, in the absence of ambitious measures to tackle it, requires an acceleration of “the protection of natural ecosystems and biodiversity”, say the experts. independents mandated last fall by the CAQ government.
Their summary thus pleads the urgency of accelerating the protection of “land and water” on the territory of the province, but also of “accelerating the restoration of 30% of the degraded territory” taking into account climate warming, a objective included in the global agreement on biodiversity signed in Montreal in 2022. At the same time, we propose to set “an objective of zero artificialization” of soils, and therefore to stop the loss of natural environments and agricultural land.
Wetlands, for example, can play a role in water management during heavy precipitation which is expected to increase due to warming, in addition to playing a role in carbon capture and in maintaining biodiversity. . But since 2017 alone, the government has authorized the destruction of 23 km2 of these environments, despite an objective of zero net loss.
The GEA also insists on the need to “modify” our forestry practices to take into account the future climate, which risks in particular causing more forest fires. Experts particularly emphasize the need to preserve old forests and to aim for the “most natural possible” composition, in order to “promote greater resilience”.
Infrastructure to be reviewed
The recommendations submitted to the Legault government also return to the pressing need to take warming into account in economic and financial development, but also in “the design, construction, upgrade and management” of buildings and infrastructure.
This may in particular mean taking for granted that the future climate will bring us episodes of “extreme” precipitation, even though municipal infrastructure is not currently adapted to this.
In order to be able to manage more abundant rainwater, it will, for example, be necessary to install larger pipes and develop new networks, when these are not separated from the sewer networks. The latter will also have to undergo replacement work and will be faced with an increase in water treatment costs.
A study produced by the firm WSP at the request of the Union of Municipalities of Quebec and published last year also highlighted an acceleration in the “deterioration” of drinking water supply infrastructures, problems of access to resource for certain municipalities and an increase in the bill for treatment.
More battered than ever, particularly by freeze-thaw cycles, roads and bridges will require more preventive maintenance, the WSP study warned. It will also be necessary to choose materials better suited to warmer climates, review the techniques used for reconstruction and better predict the risks linked to erosion, particularly coastal erosion.
The next decade will be critical for adaptation to the effects of the climate crisis in Quebec municipalities, according to the WSP study. The needs amount to 20 billion dollars and the bulk of this sum will have to be devoted to road and water management infrastructure.
GEA experts agree with this, also pleading for support for municipalities which will, for example, have to relocate infrastructure or buildings. They also invite the government to integrate the prism of adaptation into all decision-making by the various ministries concerned, which Quebec has promised to do. The health and safety of Quebecers is at stake, experts insist.
More details to come.