Fight against climate change | Quebec’s approach praised by independent report

Quebec has a “climate governance framework” among the best in the world, indicates an independent report, at a time when the Legault government thinks it has “finally broken” the increase in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the province.

“The Quebec executive ranks among the leaders,” alongside those of the United Kingdom, California and Germany, ahead of those of Canada and France, indicates a comparative evaluation prepared by Dunsky, a firm Quebec analysis and strategy specialist in energy transition, which will be made public this Wednesday and which The Press was able to consult.

The document evaluates all the mechanisms that govern the adoption of measures to combat climate change, their implementation and their monitoring.

“It is not a document in which we judge [directement] of certain measures,” explains Lorenzo Daieff, principal consultant at Dunsky, comparing the exercise rather to an accounting evaluation.

It is not a question of determining “which company will offer the best return on investment in 2030, but which one offers the most detail, transparency and monitoring of its figures”, he illustrates.

Transparency, clarity and accountability

Quebec stands out in particular because its plan to combat climate change is updated every year and because it only calculates the impact of the measures adopted and financed, the report indicates.

Ironically, this rigor, judged favorably by Dunsky, has earned the Legault government numerous criticisms from observers accusing it of having identified to date only 60% of the measures making it possible to achieve the Quebec target for reducing GHG emissions. by 37.5% by 2030 compared to their 1990 level.

The report also welcomes the budgetary clarity of the Quebec framework, “one of the rare plans to present a cost per action and per year in its implementation plans, as well as the estimate of the expected reductions per measure”, as well as the reporting of accounts it offers.

Reestablish the bond of trust

Even if it is the measures to combat climate change that will have an impact, the quality of the governance framework is essential, said Tuesday in an editorial interview with The Press the Minister of the Environment, the Fight against Climate Change, Wildlife and Parks, Benoit Charette.

“ [Les] “criticism of the Green Fund, at the start, it was a lot like that, the absence of governance”, he recalled, saying he was very happy with the conclusions of the report, which his government commissioned in order to be able to compare itself, but also s ‘improve.

The government will want to “follow up” on the recommendations of the report, assures Minister Charette, who immediately says he is open to his climate plan giving a better idea of ​​the measures envisaged, but which have not yet been officially adopted and financed.

“But I will always insist that there are two columns; one that is sure, that is true, and the second column would somehow become our next projects,” he says.

Minister Charette also says he is “certainly in favor” of the advisory committee on climate change producing an annual report card on Quebec climate action; this committee being independent, it has “full latitude to give itself this mandate”, underlines Mr. Charette.

On the other hand, the minister is less keen on the idea of ​​providing Quebec with a carbon budget, which would indicate a limit on GHG emissions for each sector of the economy, emphasizing that the carbon market already caps 80% of emissions from the province.

However, the report emphasizes that the market and budget are “two mutually reinforcing mechanisms”, inviting Quebec to adopt the second.

The report also calls on Quebec to focus more on regulations, such as those requiring automobile manufacturers to have a minimum sales of zero-emission vehicles, a proposal received more coolly.

“We are not the ones who want to judge consumer choices,” said the minister, rejecting for example the idea of ​​offering incentives for the purchase of less energy-consuming vehicles.

GHG “finally” down

The report from the Dunsky firm is made public on the same day as the provincial inventory of GHG emissions for the year 2021, which will demonstrate the start of a downward trend, affirmed Minister Charette.

The data should be very similar to that of the federal inventory, made public in April, which indicated that Quebec had generated 77 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (Mt CO eq.₂) in 2021, a little more than during the pandemic year of 2020, but less than the 82 Mt eq. CO₂ of 2019.

“We will no longer return to the peak of 2019,” assured the minister. We think we have finally broken the curve [qui était à la hausse]. »

Dunsky’s report also mentions that Quebec would benefit from “publishing estimates of its GHG trajectory more frequently”, emphasizing that the most recent data available in November 2023 dated from 2020, but Minister Charette considers it difficult to do more quickly.