(Quebec) Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions increased by 5% in Quebec in 2021 after the marked drop observed during the pandemic. The government plans another increase in emissions in 2022, but believes it will be able to “cap” them shortly, in particular thanks to the abandonment of gasoline cars.
Quebec emitted 77.6 million tonnes of GHGs in 2021, according to the Quebec inventory of GHG emissions unveiled on Wednesday. This is an increase of 5%, or 3.7 Mt.
Despite the increase, the government is pleased since emissions remain below their pre-pandemic level. They decreased by 5.6% between 2019 and 2021.
“These are figures that must be taken with a certain grain of salt, because 2021 was the end of the pandemic, there were still confinements,” said Environment Minister Benoit Charette on Wednesday.
IMAGE PROVIDED BY THE MINISTRY OF THE ENVIRONMENT
Quebec’s GHG emissions began to decline in 2008 and then suddenly began an upward trend from 2015 to 2019. The pandemic and its devastating impacts on the economy, however, put an end to this rise.
For the first time this year, the GHG inventory includes a prediction for the following year, i.e. 2022. Even if the final report which will be presented next December risks concluding a slight increase over the year, the GHGs emitted in 2022 should be 3 Mt lower than those emitted in 2019. In other words, they would mean that Quebec has succeeded in stopping the pre-pandemic increase.
“It’s not nothing, because in 2022 there were no containment measures. That means that we would have two normal years and that we would see a decline,” indicated Minister Charette.
The government is still hopeful of achieving its objective of reducing emissions by 37.5% by 2030 compared to their 1990 level. The figures revealed Wednesday indicate that Quebec emitted 8.9% less than 2021. GHGs than in 1990. To this must be added the rights on the carbon market, which make Quebec believe that the 2030 objective is in sight.