The carbon footprint of Quebec society is significantly higher than the official balance sheet published each year by the Quebec government, reveals an initial estimate published Monday by the Quebec Institute of Statistics (ISQ).
According to the data recorded, the carbon footprint amounted to “at least” 95 million tonnes of CO equivalent2 in 2018, which is equivalent to 11.3 tonnes per capita. The official balance sheet published by the Government of Quebec for its part states 81.04 million tonnes for the same year 2018.
It must be said that the ISQ has established a more complete assessment of Quebecers’ greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This measures emissions in the province (50 million tonnes, or 53% of the balance), but also those elsewhere in Canada (15 million tonnes, or 16% of the balance) and those caused elsewhere in the world (30 million tonnes, i.e. 31% of the balance sheet).
These emissions generated elsewhere on the planet, which are underestimated, include approximately 24 million tonnes of GHGs attributable to the “manufacturing” of goods that we consume here. We can think, for example, of products made in China, the United States or Mexico, then exported to Quebec.
The carbon footprint associated with household “current expenses” accounts for the largest share of the carbon footprint of Quebec society, i.e. 72%, which is equivalent to 68 million tonnes of GHGs, including 18 million tonnes elsewhere in the world. It must be said that these current expenditures generating GHGs include the consumption of energy and fuel, mainly for vehicles.
Far from the Paris Agreement
The ISQ estimates GHG emissions per capita at 11.3 tonnes, of which 8.1 tonnes are directly attributable to households. The per capita GHG emissions of Quebec society are therefore more than five times too high to meet the most ambitious objective of the Paris Agreement, which is to limit climate change to +1.5°C. To achieve this, emissions per citizen should not exceed 2 tons, at most.
The “carbon footprint” represents the total amount of greenhouse gases emitted by activities used to meet the demand for goods or services. It allows GHG emissions to be attributed to the end user of the good or service, regardless of where these emissions occur and who generated them. It takes into account all emissions from the chain of production and marketing of goods and services.
In addition to the production of GHG emissions, Quebec citizens consume far too many natural resources to envisage a viable future for the planet, according to what emerges from an assessment of our “material footprint” published last month by the Institute for Socio-economic Research and Information (IRIS). This footprint, which takes into account the natural resources necessary for an average Quebecer, would be around 16 to 19 tonnes per year.