Warning: after a trying week, this editorial will try to give you some hope on our ability to fight against climate change.
Unfortunately, you did not dream.
For the past week, there have indeed been huge uncontrollable forest fires in several regions of Quebec, a probable consequence of climate change.
About 13,500 Quebecers were evacuated.
Smog made the air quality unhealthy for two days in southern Quebec.
Proof that climate issues have no borders: the wind blew the smoke from the Quebec fires as far as New York. The Big Apple, which had the worst air quality in the world, looked like an apocalyptic desert in a Denis Villeneuve film.
With climate change, disasters like this will unfortunately tend to increase. The consequences, more and more important.
Is all this discouraging? Yes. Scary? Yes. An insoluble problem? That, no.
Climate change is the greatest challenge of our generation.
It should be the priority of citizens and governments alike. This is currently not the case. Environmental protection is a beautiful principle, we are making some efforts here and there, but nothing that will allow us to limit the impact of climate change to an increase of 1.5 degrees Celsius by 2100.
Faced with such a titanic challenge, the human can react in two ways: 1) I am ready to make sacrifices, even if I don’t really know where to start; 2) I will do what I want, my actions won’t change anything anyway.
The good news is that most Quebecers fall into the first category, those of responsible optimists.
78% of Quebecers understand that climate change is caused by human activity, compared to 68% of Canadians, 67% of Ontarians, and only 54% of Americans and 50% of Albertans, according to the firm Léger.
93% of Quebecers are ready to make efforts in their consumption to fight against climate change.
77% of them believe that governments do not do enough for the environment, according to the firm CROP.
So why aren’t governments stepping up the fight against climate change? Why did Quebec emit more CO2 in 2019 than in 1991?1
Because the fight against climate change is not yet high enough on Quebecers’ list of priorities.
About 42% of Quebecers believe that climate change is one of their three priorities, according to the firm Abacus. Either, it is the province where it is the highest (22% in Ontario, 26% in British Columbia). But this is not high enough, and far behind the cost of living (75% of Quebecers) and health (59%).
We often get the governments we collectively deserve. Until politicians feel that climate change can make a difference at the ballot box, many will be reluctant to make the significant changes that are needed.
Justin Trudeau and François Legault have their qualities and their faults, but they know how to read polls.
Ottawa, like Quebec, is not doing enough to fight climate change. However, they govern with a different context.
The Coalition avenir Québec is at the head of a province rich in hydroelectricity, a very low-polluting energy. In the last provincial elections, however, she had the least ambitious climate plan of the four main parties.
Mr. Trudeau is the head of the world’s fourth largest oil producer. Politically, it requires more compromise, and he has done a lot.
By way of comparison, the only other real contender for the post of Prime Minister of Canada, the Conservative Pierre Poilievre, has made it a priority to abolish the carbon tax. It would be a disaster.
Across the country, Bloc Québécois (64%), PLC (68%), NDP (69%) and Green Party (70%) voters are all concerned about climate change, but Conservative voters are not ( only 33%), according to the firm Abacus.
It is essential to find a way to convince as many Conservative voters as possible of the urgency of the fight against climate change. We need moderate conservative leaders who take up this thankless pilgrim’s staff.
We will not change mentalities overnight, but there is hope.
In the 2008 federal election, Liberal leader Stéphane Dion made fun of him with his carbon tax. Fifteen years later, the carbon tax, at zero cost to taxpayers, is the most important policy in the fight against climate change in Canada.
10 years ago, 7% of global CO emissions2 were subject to a form of carbon tax. Today it is 23%, according to the World Bank. The glass is only a quarter full, but it is filling.
The fight against climate change is global, and Quebec must do its part. Together, Europe, North America and Japan account for 34% of global CO emissions2. China another 31%.2 If everyone takes the climate seriously, we can do it.
However, we will have to stop telling stories: the fight against climate change will require sacrifices. Citizens understand this more and more, and politicians should no longer be afraid to play fair with their constituents, as Québec solidaire and the Parti Québécois did during the last campaign.
1. Quebec emitted 81.0 million tonnes of CO2 in 1991 and 82.7 million tonnes of CO2 in 2019. Quebec’s population has obviously increased in the meantime. In 2020 – the last year for which data is available – Quebec emitted 74.0 million tonnes of CO2but this year is not representative due to the pandemic.
2. According to data from Oxford University/OurWorldinData.org