Climate Change | What can Quebec do?

The eyes of the world will soon be on Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, where thousands of scientists and policy makers will travel to participate in the 27^e United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27), which will take place next week. This annual conference is one of the only occasions for the international community to come together to discuss collective action to combat climate change.

Mostafa Saad
PhD student in building engineering and committed researcher at Concordia University, the author will participate in COP27 as an observer*

However, we cannot afford to let another conference of fine words, but devoid of actions pass. Extreme weather events are one of the many facets of climate change that affects us all in one way or another. Quebecers have certainly not forgotten the tornado that hit Saint-Adolphe-d’Howard in July. Floods and forest fires remain vivid memories in the minds of people in British Columbia. Finally, Eastern Canada is still recovering from the devastation caused by Fionadubbed the “storm of the century”.

In the opinion of many experts, this may all be just the start of a new normal. Unless, of course, the world finally decides to act collectively.

Right now, our global policies are projected to result in 2.7°C of warming by 2100. Even in the best-case scenario of 140 countries implementing carbon neutral policies, we would still be on track. reach a warming of 1.8°C, which greatly exceeds the objective of 1.5°C set at the COP in Paris in 2015.

Should we give up and accept the inevitability of climate change? No way. There is a huge gap between a warming of 1.8°C and a rise of 2.7°C, and we should do everything we can to minimize this increase in temperature.

Clean energies

Replacing fossil fuels appears to us to be an achievable goal, but how?

Quebec’s electricity grid is one of the cleanest in the world, but it does not have the capacity to decarbonize the entire economy. Renewables are key to increasing our grid capacity and empowering us to achieve the transformations needed to meet new decarbonization targets. Urban centers across the province need to invest more in clean energy generation and storage.

Quebec can undertake this transition by taking over the $2 billion allocated annually to importing natural gas and reinvesting it in clean and adaptive resources.

Another parallel solution would be to decrease our energy demand. The idea is obviously not to freeze in winter, but to adapt our buildings.

To do this, they must be modernized and made more energy efficient, particularly large buildings. In Quebec, buildings represent more than 27% of energy demand for end use. This measure would make it possible to supply more buildings with our network, and to wean them off from fossil fuels. The increase in tax credits for the modernization of these buildings could ensure that we all come out winners.

And new buildings?

Improved building codes are needed to ensure we reduce their lifetime footprint on the planet. We need to regulate the amounts of carbon used in new construction.

Transportation is also one of the main carbon emitters in Quebec. The province can take three complementary approaches in this area.

First, encourage as many people as possible to opt for public transport. To do this, more neighborhoods and cities must be provided with a reliable public transport network. Second, invest in an electric mobility system. Third, increase electric vehicle sharing services to accommodate our trips outside of urban areas served by public transit networks.

Industrial buildings are also among the province’s largest carbon emitters. Many industries have begun a partial transition, but the pace at which these transformations are taking place is clearly insufficient. The implementation of certain government policies – for example, reducing the limits of carbon emissions from industrial installations and granting them incentives to invest in carbon offsetting – would undoubtedly encourage companies to accelerate this shift.

While some of these transitional policies and measures may seem optimistic, we look forward to their implementation.

Considering all the economic potential and the immense talent that Quebec harbors, I believe we are capable of achieving these objectives – it is even essential. However, if we want to avoid the worst of climate change, we need to shift gears now.

* Mostafa Saad’s research focuses on the decarbonization of buildings.