This text is part of the special section Municipalities
Quebec municipalities affiliated with the UMQ represent 6 million people across the province. The Union is thus at the heart of the solutions that will make it possible to meet the challenges of the 21stand century. Among them, climate change naturally occupies a major place. What impacts on municipalities? How can these act? Here are some answers, before the big forum entitled United for the climate: municipalities at the forefrontwhich will take place on May 13 as part of the UMQ conference.
“The climate is an essential subject for our fellow citizens. Municipalities must adapt to fight against climate change”, testifies Martin Damphousse, mayor of Varennes and member of the UMQ environment commission. It is therefore logical that one of the two major forums of the 2022 assizes deals specifically with this file. And as proof of the importance of the subject for Quebecers and therefore for their elected officials, more than 1,000 people have already registered.
The Mayor of Varennes continued: “The municipal level has always been considered the front line government for the population. It is from there that the changes must manifestly take place. As we have seen for several years, extreme climatic phenomena are tending to increase. In Varennes, for example, we see an increase in the erosion of the banks of the St. Lawrence when, in other coastal municipalities, we observe an increase in flooding. Climate change has a major impact on the finances of our cities and towns. It is absolutely necessary to change the paradigm, and as soon as possible. »
A North American first
The latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is formal. Climate change, which is already a reality, will continue to worsen if drastic changes are not put in place within three years. Whether on a personal or collective level, no one remains indifferent and solutions are being put in place within the province.
“At the municipal level, we have a role to play and we assume it,” says Mr. Damphousse. We can be a vector of influence with regard to our population. By offering, subject to conditions, subsidies for the installation of solar panels or the purchase of electric vehicles, for example”.
In his municipality of Varennes, the mayor indicates that the library is now carbon neutral, that electric vehicles have been purchased and that the first electric fire truck in North America will soon complement the fire brigade fleet.
“All of this has a higher cost, he acknowledges, but we have no choice but to change our ways of doing and consuming, because climate disasters will be paid even more dearly. The evolution of mentalities on the climate is incredibly fast in Quebec. This is going in the right direction. »
Support municipalities
A guide on regulations and adaptation to climate change was also created in collaboration with Ouranos, a Quebec consortium on regional climatology and adaptation to climate change. This innovation center is now setting up scientific projects developed in partnership with municipalities to help them adapt to climate change. This 82-page collection is there to support cities in their desire to reduce their impact on the environment. Through multiple examples, it allows them to appropriate and take ownership of the available solutions. This guide, available on the UMQ website, is the pride of Alain Bourque.
“This forum during the UMQ meeting and the publication of this guide testify to the acceleration of awareness of the cost of climate change by Quebec municipalities,” enthuses the director general of Ouranos. The whole province is affected by major changes. »
It evokes the risk of increasingly intense drought during the summer season. According to him, water should be considered a rare commodity and should be preserved. Coastal municipalities must adapt to flooding mainly due to a rise in sea level and a shorter freeze-up of the river. Forest municipalities are increasingly confronted with forest fires, when those in the Far North are the most affected, with climate change three to four times faster than on the rest of the planet.
Heterogeneous risks
According to the latest reports, climate change is an inexorable reality. They will take place. They have even already started. Humanity must adapt to live with this and reduce its greenhouse gas emissions so as not to make the planet unlivable. This reality is even more true here in Canada, where average temperatures have already increased by 1.7 degrees Celsius since 1948, when the planetary average is 0.8 degrees. Our country is therefore warming up twice as fast. Within the province, municipalities are organizing against this.
“We have set up collaborative projects with university partners and municipalities,” explains Mr. Bourque. We also have a project with the government to redefine flood zones in Quebec. The province is vast and the municipalities live in different contexts. »
Montreal fears, for example, the heat wave and the failure of municipal systems when other cities have more to worry about rising water levels. Excess mortality induced by climate change is also upon us. This affects everyone, all areas: the economy, leisure, public health, infrastructure, water treatment, etc.
To counter these harmful effects, the director of Ouranos proposes possible solutions: he believes that the municipalities should set up a specific department that would work on the issue of climate change and that could express itself on all the other files in progress. and to come. This department will also have to establish a process to scan all the risks and involve all the stakeholders. Then move on to the action plan with a prioritization logic on the changes to be made.
“We have to proceed in the most optimal way possible,” he concludes. It will cost a little more money initially, but it is a responsibility to be taken at the level of the municipalities to hope for a viable future. »