The Legault and Trudeau governments have promised us in every forum that the recovery will be “green”. Clean technologies, electrification of transport, local purchasing, circular economy… The pandemic was supposed to serve as a lesson, both to show us the dangers of ignoring the interdependence of our impacts on ecosystems and to convince us of our ability to act quickly.
From the start of the pandemic, in April 2019, the Minister of Economy and Innovation, Pierre Fitzgibbon, said in the media: “The recovery will be green. “
At the dawn of the second wave, in September 2019, the Minister added: “One thing has become very clear. The environment and the economy can and must coexist. The economy can feed the environmental side. “
Two years later, we are finally out of this pandemic. The promised economic recovery is there. The employment thresholds are back to their pre-pandemic level. Vehicle sales are increasing. Traffic jams too. Investment projects are multiplying. In short, the same development conditions are at the heart of decisions. The objective remains: produce-consume-throw away.
The stimulus is not green. Recyc-Quebec has indeed announced a few million here and there to encourage recycling initiatives with manufacturers. And the Caquista government has shown that it is serious by announcing both its withdrawal from oil projects in Quebec and an investment of 5 billion in electric buses, to which is added $ 6.7 billion in an “other” plan. green. In Ottawa, Steven Guilbeault became Minister of the Environment. But can we talk about a green recovery?
Not far from here. In fact, we are continuing on the same trajectory as before the pandemic. We seek to produce at the lowest price, to sell more to consumers, without regard to the impacts on the availability of resources, greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) and biodiversity.
The problems are, however, known. Besides the consumption of fossil fuels, there is planned obsolescence, a strategy used by manufacturers to force us to throw away and replace their product as quickly as possible. Perhaps the best-known example is cell phone batteries, which are now virtually impossible (and very expensive) to replace.
Yet both consumers and the business community agree that real change is needed. Now.
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In June, on the occasion of Evolution Laval, Michel Rousseau, Chairman of the Board of the Laval Chamber of Commerce, said to the business community: “We can no longer continue like this. We must undertake a transition to more eco-responsible practices. “
In October, Sophie Brochu, CEO of Hydro-Québec, announced to Everybody talks about it : “In Quebec, we are not the best in the world in terms of energy efficiency. We must consume better, we must consume less. “
I agree, the challenge of transforming our economy to reduce our GHG emissions to almost zero is enormous. Even more imposing than the challenge of the pandemic. But it is far from impossible, on the contrary. It is time to review our system which turns resources into waste. It’s time to end urban sprawl and adequately protect the remaining ecosystems. It is high time for our elected officials to send a clear message: the conditions for the success of our economy will now have to be consistent with the conditions essential to maintaining life on Earth.
In comparison with China and the United States, Quebec is not a major emitter of GHGs. However, it is precisely our small size that would make us an extraordinary laboratory for creating an inspiring development model for other countries and for future generations. I am confident that we have the knowledge, expertise, resources and creativity to be successful. All we need is the leadership of our elected officials.