(Montreal) Minister Benoit Charette announced $117 million in funding for the City of Montreal to support its efforts to fight climate change and $49 million will also be granted to the City of Quebec for the same reasons.
Posted at 3:19 p.m.
The financing targets three projects, namely: “the electrification of modes of transport, the replacement of fossil fuels by renewable energies in municipal buildings and the prevention of risks linked to climate change for citizens”.
The Minister of the Environment and the Fight Against Climate Change made the announcement Monday morning in Montreal and in the afternoon in Quebec.
Electrify transport
Part of the amount will allow Montreal to install 800 new public charging stations for electric vehicles within three years. There are currently 1,000 terminals in the territory; the City will therefore approach the objective it has set of reaching 2,000 public terminals by 2025.
“It’s really important if we want to reach the goal of having nearly 50% of the vehicle fleet electric by 2030,” said Mayor Plante.
Decarbonizing Montreal’s building stock
The province’s funding will also be used to decarbonize the building stock by carrying out “conversion work in about fifteen municipal buildings” in Montreal.
“It means that we want our buildings to operate without fossil fuels,” indicated the mayor, pointing out that the building sector is the largest emitter of GHGs after transportation.
“We want to eliminate fuel oil, propane and natural gas in about twenty buildings. »
The Atwater Market, the Botanical Garden and the North Operational Center of the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal are among the infrastructures that will be converted to electricity.
“This work will enable us to reduce our emissions by nearly 10,000 tonnes of CO2 [annuellement] and that is major”, indicated Valérie Plante, adding that it is the equivalent, in terms of greenhouse gas emissions, “of the withdrawal of more than 3000 vehicles” from the roads.
About 63 million of the 117 million funding granted by the province will be used to decarbonize buildings, while the City of Montreal will inject 28 million, an amount that was already planned for the energy conversion of buildings.
Green infrastructure in the metropolis
Part of the funding will also be used for adaptation to the impacts of climate change by “planting trees, creating facilities to protect citizens against floods and heat islands and installing green infrastructure. “.
For example, the City intends to implement an ecological rainwater management project on Papineau Avenue, in the Ahuntsic district. The development provides for 23 water retention basins and 15 vegetated retention basins.
Water retention basins help reduce sewer backups and the discharge of wastewater into waterways during heavy rains, and vegetated basins serve as sponges by absorbing rainwater. These are recognized measures to increase resilience and reduce the impact of climate change.
Provincial funding will also allow the City to plant 94,000 trees by 2024.
“I remind you that in our climate plan, 500,000 trees will be planted by 2030,” said the mayor.
Minister Charette indicated that his government was “proud to recognize the leadership and support the efforts of cities like Montreal, because their actions will have a significant effect on achieving Quebec’s climate transition targets.”
49 million for Quebec
In exchange for the sum of 49 million, the City of Quebec has undertaken to act on six major fronts, in particular the implementation of a strategy to decarbonize the building stock, the addition of nearly 100 public charging stations and demineralization and greening in more than sixty projects.
The City of Quebec also intends to equip itself to evaluate and choose the most promising climate actions, quantify greenhouse gas emissions and support innovation and the integration of the fight against climate change in residential development.
“Local governments like ours are playing a major role in this unprecedented fight to leave a better future for future generations. I am very happy with this amount, which will consolidate our actions and give new impetus to environmental innovation,” indicated the mayor of Québec, Bruno Marchand.
The Minister of the Environment and the Fight Against Climate Change congratulated “Québec City for its 2021-2025 Climate Transition and Action Plan and wishes it every success, because its actions will have a significant effect on achieving all of Quebec’s climate transition targets.
The financial assistance stems from the Green Economy 2030 Plan and comes from the Electrification and Climate Change Fund.