On the eve of the Grand Rendez-vous de l’Innovation québécoise organized on November 18 and 19, the Government of Quebec has before it a formidable opportunity to seize to put in place concrete solutions that will enable it to tie together three pillars of its action. : the Québec Research and Innovation Strategy, public procurement and investment policies, as well as the Government’s Sustainable Development Strategy. The alignment of these three pillars is fundamental to put innovations into action.
COP26 ended with this observation: the international community has climbed new steps, but it will have to take greater strides and do it more quickly if humanity wishes to reach the top of the stairs before the building does not collapse. Companies will have a crucial role to play in accelerating the pace, and they will have to use all their ingenuity to adapt or even transform their business models.
In a survey published in September 2021, the Institut de la statistique du Québec noted that barely one in 10 companies had adopted the practice of reducing the GHG emissions associated with its activities and less than 4 in 10 companies attempted to reduce the environmental impact of their products or services or to set up eco-responsible sourcing. There is still a gap between the environmental awareness of Quebec companies and the implementation of a significant and structuring eco-responsibility approach.
How can we further mobilize companies to incorporate their environmental and climate performance into their business models? How could the State play an accelerator role?
Here is a simple suggestion: by requiring that companies that benefit from financial contributions or government programs demonstrate that they are making efforts to implement eco-responsible practices, including the adoption of clean Quebec technologies to fight climate change. and conserve resources. This approach would help improve the operational efficiency of companies while reducing their environmental or climate footprint.
By combining an approach that is part of sustainable financing to encourage the adoption of eco-responsible practices in businesses, the government would help strengthen Québec’s leadership in sustainable finance. Let us recall the recent announcement that Montreal will soon become the hub of sustainable finance in North America.
The means exist
Initiated by the Government of Quebec and coordinated by the Quebec Action Fund for Sustainable Development (FAQDD), in collaboration with the Center québécois de développement durable (CQDD) and Écotech Quebec, the Écoleader Fund is a large-scale program that promotes a network of agents available to companies and organizations to guide them in their approach, in addition to funding to carry out diagnoses and studies aimed at implementing eco-responsible practices.
Ecotech Québec then puts these companies in touch with clean technology innovators, with its Grands Rendez-vous initiatives and the Inno + networking workshops. What if innovation does not exist? Écotech Québec then called on the creativity of local researchers to co-develop an innovative solution that could then be marketed around the world.
In short, the means exist for companies to implement an eco-responsible approach. And hope that other tools will be deployed soon, because we are faced with the urgency of putting innovations into action.