The Conservative Party of Quebec is the only one to embark on this election campaign without promising to meet a target for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Éric Duhaime’s training program also qualifies the climatic weight of Quebec as “tiny”, while insisting on that, much more imposing, of China. A harmful discourse in the context of the climate crisis, say the experts consulted by Le Devoir.
The platform put forward by the Conservative Party of Quebec (PCQ) bluntly denounces the “unrealistic targets” for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in Quebec, while opposing the idea of ” drastic reductions” in emissions, as recommended by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
The conservative formation promises in the same breath “a new, more realistic and logical approach composed of concrete, innovative and structuring measures”. Among these, the PCQ is committed to “gradually electrifying transport and ensuring its financing by exploiting our hydrocarbons”. This vehicle energy transition would be based essentially on the exploitation of shale gas from the St. Lawrence Valley.
no target
Unlike the other political parties in the race, Éric Duhaime’s party has not set a GHG reduction target. “We are aware of the importance of reducing our ecological footprint and of the challenges that await the next generation. This is why we have proposed pragmatic and achievable solutions to reduce greenhouse gases on a planetary scale, but we have decided not to quantify this reduction”, argues the PCQ press officer, Cédric Lapointe, in an email response.
The party believes anyway that the reduction of GHGs in Quebec “would have practically no effect on the climate”, evaluating the “tiny proportion” of the province’s emissions at 0.18% of the planetary total. The PCQ instead points the finger at China, insisting on the continuous increase in GHG emissions from this industrial power. “China cancels all of Quebec’s 30-year reduction targets in just 11 and a half days,” reads the conservative platform.
China is indeed the first emitter of GHGs in the world, with approximately 30% of the total balance. Its emissions reached 11.9 billion tonnes in 2021, according to the International Energy Agency. This was an increase from 2019 and 2020, when emissions stood at 10 billion tonnes.
However, the portrait must be nuanced, according to Pierre-Olivier Pineau, holder of the Chair in Energy Sector Management at HEC Montréal. “Per capita, China emits less than Quebec. Those who think that individual responsibility must be important in the management of a government should look into this reality and note that on an individual scale, Quebec has more responsibility, especially since approximately 20% of emissions Chinese are linked to its exports. Through our purchases, we have relocated programs to China, by relocating production there. »
At present, annual per capita emissions also reach 7.6 tons in China, according to the World Bank. In Quebec, they amount to 9.9 tons. And climate experts believe that to meet the most ambitious goal of the Paris Agreement, which is to limit climate change to +1.5°C, it should be capped at two tonnes, at most.
Historical responsibility
“The ‘yes, but China’ is the favorite response of those who wish to dodge their climate responsibility by blaming other states”, deplores the director of national policies of the Climate Action Network Canada, Caroline Brouillette.
This rhetoric no longer holds water when taking into account “historical emissions”, she says, quoting the organization Carbon Brief, which specializes in climate information. In 2021, he produced an analysis which makes it possible to better understand which countries are “historically responsible” for global warming.
In a “per capita” comparison of historical emissions, Canadians rank first in the world, with emissions of 1,751 tonnes of GHGs per capita, assuming that historical emissions are borne by the current population. China, adds Ms. Brouillette, “does not even rank among the top 20 countries”.
In this context, Caroline Brouillette and Hugo Séguin, who is a fellow at the Center for International Studies and Research at the University of Montreal, insist on the need to instead raise Quebec’s climate ambition after the October 3 election. “We are in a climate crisis and I don’t see how any political party could tell us that they take this issue seriously while pledging to do less. On the contrary, we try to do as much as possible,” insists Mr. Séguin. The Canada Climate Action Network, which brings together several environmental organizations, assesses, however, that the “fair share” of Quebec requires a reduction of at least 65% of its GHG emissions.
Acting for the climate would also improve our economic situation, insists Pierre-Olivier Pineau. “Canada, and Quebec by inclusion, is the country with the worst energy productivity among OECD countries. We generate less wealth per unit of energy than any other developed country. So there is a way to reduce our energy consumption, reduce our emissions and get richer. »
“Those who want to slow the decline in GHG emissions are not just environmentally irresponsible, but also economically irresponsible. They want to maintain our inefficiency and slow down our prosperity,” he concludes.