Imagine walking down the streets of your neighborhood in heat so intense it takes your breath away. Southern Quebec sweltered under an extreme heat wave, prompting doctors and health services to alert the population of the imminent dangers to our health.
A recent study by Statistics Canada reveals that Montreal sadly holds the record for the highest mortality rate due to heatwaves in Canada. It is in this alarming context that the Quebec government tabled, last Tuesday, the update of its Green Economy Plan (PEV).
And this is how new measures are added to the three previous updates whose objective is to enable us to achieve our GHG emissions reduction target, i.e. 37.5% by 2030 compared to 1990. While the government emphasizes the importance of energy sobriety, it remains unclear on the concrete strategies aimed at adopting sober consumption habits consistent with the imperatives of carbon neutrality.
It is also surprising to note the absence of transport in the energy sobriety roadmap. Saving energy in transportation requires structuring alternatives to solo driving. Furthermore, this update of the EPI does not include any enhancement of public transportation financing programs, despite high expectations in this regard.
Adaptation and mitigation: two sides of the same coin
We must understand that adaptation and mitigation are two inseparable aspects of the fight against the climate crisis. Adaptation represents all initiatives and “measures taken to reduce the vulnerability and strengthen the resilience of natural and human systems to the actual or predicted effects of climate change”, while mitigation reduces GHG emissions to limit the global warming. To adapt, we also need to radically reduce our emissions now.
Therefore, the adaptation efforts in this plan should be highlighted. As extreme weather events increase, following several of the recommendations of the Group of Experts on Adaptation to Climate Change (GEA) was essential.
However, it is urgent to prioritize the conservation of natural ecosystems in adaptation measures, as these same experts emphasize. Only 9.3 million of the total budget allocated to adaptation is devoted to biodiversity conservation! Quebec must tackle these multiple crises and publish its Nature Plan.
You need a good target and a good plan
Just recently, the GEA warned Minister Charette that any slow action in reducing GHG emissions risks causing warming that will exceed 4°C in southern Quebec before the end of the century. However, the minister still comes to us with an implementation plan whose progress is less ambitious than those of previous years.
A scientific report has determined that Quebec’s fair share of the global effort to limit the rise in temperatures to 1.5°C requires a reduction of GHGs of at least 65% below 1990 levels by 2030. Currently, the measures put in place have only generated a 7% reduction, and reading the 2024 update, Quebec is essentially announcing a plan to drop emissions by around 25% below 1990 levels. here 2030. However, the target established for Quebec is a 37.5% reduction by 2030, and it remains well below the 65% determined by scientists.
At the heart of a good plan is fairness. The effects of climate change (including extreme heat waves) disproportionately affect low-income households and vulnerable people. Quebec must ensure that the measures announced are effective in helping the climate and supporting the most vulnerable populations so as to leave no one behind and achieve a just climate transition.
Inconsistent financial management
Despite the climate emergency, the Electrification and Climate Change Fund is sitting on an accumulated surplus of $1.7 billion, which the government does not want to reinvest in concrete decarbonization and adaptation measures. Meanwhile, crucial projects and programs for mitigation and adaptation are underfunded or sidelined, and the most vulnerable populations in the ecological transition are still waiting for more support. This is unacceptable.
Accountability: the key to effective climate action
Proper accountability can deliver a future where climate actions are ambitious, rigorously verified and tailored to produce maximum effect. To achieve this, as our emissions continue to increase, we need additional tools, such as sectoral targets and annual monitoring of measures. This is how we can exceed our climate targets. We don’t have the luxury of failing!