In his post of June 4, the sociologist Gérard Bouchard presents a project which, according to him, “impresses by its generous philosophy and the scope of its ambitions”, the Quebec ZéN (zero net emission) project of the Common Front for Energy Transition . It also asks excellent questions about the feasibility of the profound transformations inherent in this project. At his invitation, here are our responses.
Essentially, Mr. Bouchard, you are asking whether the Québec ZéN project is a utopia. Well… let’s say this. Faced with the worst threats humanity has ever had to face, i.e. runaway climate and the collapse of ecosystems, the scenario that currently dominates is that of magical thinking: through recklessness or helplessness, we collectively continue our headlong rush crossing our fingers that the notoriously insufficient and contradictory measures put in place by our governments will miraculously be sufficient.
The “Roadmap for Quebec’s transition to carbon neutrality”, which you have read, offers another approach: that of a structuring social project, based on social dialogue, co-constructed and co-deployed by all parties. stakeholders — governments, municipalities, businesses, other organizations, communities, individuals — to transform the systems underlying the crises that hit us.
The culmination of phase 1 of Québec ZéN, this document drawn up by more than 80 organizations does not comment on our wisdom or our collective madness. It simply outlines the transformations that are urgently needed to achieve carbon neutrality on time — while building a more equal society that respects the rights of Indigenous peoples.
Realize the utopia. First version of phase 2, which marks the move to action, the Collectivités ZéN project […] proposes the establishment of “net zero emission” local authorities, which are more resilient and fair. Starting up in four territories, soon to be eight, it aims to gradually bring together key players from all sectors and the population of these communities around leaders of transition sites that are well rooted in their environment in order to carry out structured and inclusive approaches to decarbonizing the territory.
Very soon, ZéN Workgroups in the workplace, led by workers, will also be launched in order to transform practices and aim for the greening of industries, businesses and institutions. We hope that these formulas will snowball and, through their ripple effect, will contribute to rapidly changing mentalities and public policies in Quebec and Canada.
Extraordinary financial efforts. Where will the investments needed for the transition come from? If the fight against GHG emissions were recognized for what it is — a real war to save life on earth — we would without hesitation mobilize all available resources to put an end to this devastation. And that is precisely what the roadmap proposes: to stop investing our public funds, the assets of our pension funds and our savings in an economy fueled by the overexploitation of resources, overconsumption and waste, and over which we have no control; massively redirect our collective financial levers towards desirable activities and economic models compatible with the common good.
In addition, governments must draw on the immense arsenal of regulations and taxation in order to induce major changes without costing the public purse, taking care not to penalize vulnerable populations.
What economy? You ask, Mr. Bouchard, how, by means of social dialogue, to convince the big companies to mend their ways? How to get the business world to switch to downsizing? In fact, although the Roadmap recognizes a clear link between the socio-ecological crisis and the dominant economic model, and proposes a transition based on material sobriety and a significant energy descent, there is no consensus among the forces who make up the Common Front on the position to adopt vis-à-vis degrowth and capitalism as such.
The IPCC report on climate change mitigation released last April brought these issues back to the heart of the debate. Indeed, the scientific consensuses expressed there, on the most realistic trajectories for achieving carbon neutrality in a timely manner, imply a significant and planned reduction in energy demand and consumption in general in rich countries. Degrowth is now part of the discussion, as are economic planning and other ownership models besides capitalism.
The subject is therefore not closed, dear Mr. Bouchard. Hopefully our paths will cross again so we can continue this interesting conversation, in the pages of the To have to or elsewhere.