In Quebec, when we calculate greenhouse gas emissions, we refer to 1990, the reference year for the Kyoto Protocol. But when we talk about citizen mobilization for the environment, the benchmark is 2019.
Why 2019? Because it is the year of the visit of the young Swedish activist Greta Thunberg to Montreal, on the occasion of a march for the climate which brought together hundreds of thousands of people in the streets of the metropolis.
Observers agree that that year, the mobilization of Quebecers was at its strongest for years. The good news is that this mobilization does not seem to have weakened. The Greta effect is still being felt.
The pandemic could have undermined the motivation of the population fighting another, psychologically trying crisis. This is what environmental groups feared. Especially since we took a few bad folds during confinement: online shopping, multiplication of disposable masks, etc.
But studies and polls show that the environment still ranks high on Quebecers’ list of priorities. Under the circumstances, this is excellent news.
Because the latest data from the United Nations Environment Program, published on Tuesday, reminds us that there is no time to waste. At present, States’ commitments are clearly insufficient.
The next few years, and even the next few months, will therefore be crucial in turning the tide. Major changes in our lifestyles are to be expected if we want to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions. In this context, the mobilization and support of the population for more restrictive measures are essential.
Green influencers
There are several factors that help to build buy-in from a population. Public opinion research is not an exact science, but it is enough to identify what works and what doesn’t.
We know, for example, that information, education and awareness campaigns have a certain effect. In 2006, the film An inconvenient truth of former Vice President of the United States Al Gore has sparked real awareness among Canadians of climate issues, an effect that has been reflected in the polls. Our governments could do more on this front. We see advertisements against texting and drinking and driving, against tobacco, domestic violence… why not against global warming?
We also know that guilt is not the best approach to mobilize people to change their behavior. We learn this in psychology 101 lessons: make people feel guilty, and you risk getting the opposite effect of what you are looking for.
It is therefore not by criticizing the neighbor for his trip to the South or his triple hamburger that we will convince him. On the other hand, show the example and you risk to be emulated.
Experts call it the social norm. Do your neighbors recycle? Chances are you are recycling too. A friend shows you her latest find in a second-hand store? She might inspire you to do the same. And if the majority of your neighbors buy an electric car, that may influence you to buy one, too. These influences have a positive effect on individual behaviors which will add up to make a real difference in the end.
That said, the factor that is most likely to shake up a population and mobilize it is the impacts of climate change in its daily life. The ski season cut short, the ice on the rink not freezing, the basement of the lakeside house flooded three springs in a row, the photos of red skies on Instagram-red skies caused by forest fires in British Columbia, heatwaves, drought and its impact on fruit prices….
You don’t have to read the IPCC reports to understand that this is a bad time. It’s happening under our noses.
With the summer we have just experienced, it is not surprising to find that the environment is of great concern to Quebecers. They understood that it was a priority.
Quebec is ready for more ambitious measures than those proposed by the Legault government, which persists in treating the environment as one issue among many others. How many times will it be necessary to repeat it? We are facing a crisis of historic proportions.
In the last 20 months, precisely, this government has shown us that it can be effective in crisis management. He succeeded in mobilizing Quebecers and convincing them to adopt new behaviors to fight the pandemic. How? ‘Or’ What ?
By informing, by explaining the risk and its consequences, by demonstrating a certain transparency, by communicating progress on a regular basis. Faced with COVID-19, the Legault government has aroused tremendous support from Quebecers who have accepted difficult measures to “flatten the curve”. Now we have to flatten the other curve: that of greenhouse gas emissions.
The ball is in your court, Mr. Legault.
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