Quebecers know about climate change, but how to translate it into action?

Content of the article

One silver lining in the climate change crisis is that the increasing frequency of disasters has made it easier to convince the general public that the effects of greenhouse gases are real. Floods, record wildfire seasons, long-term heat waves, and repeated droughts have led to greater openness on the part of many to support environmental fixes.

Content of the article

The question is how quickly to implement this desire in an issue that involves multiple players, a global energy transformation and billions of dollars.

Content of the article

“The fact that 500,000 Montrealers marched against climate change (in 2019) shows that there is awareness of the issue,” said Béatrice Alain, director of the Chantier de l'économie, a social non-profit organization that promotes businesses in Montreal. social economy. “But it lacks information and frameworks that tell people what is possible and what is needed … to give citizens the tools to create sustainable development.”

Finding ways to give these tools to citizens, municipalities, businesses and governments is the theme of the national climate conference de l'action, a two-day conference that began Tuesday in Old Montreal, bringing together leaders of Quebec's environmental movements in a series of forums. . The conference was organized by the National Council for the Regroupment of the Environment of Quebec.

According to Florence Junca-Adenot, a professor at the University of Quebec in Montreal who specializes in sustainable mobility, cities around the world, with dense populations and high energy needs, face many challenges to reduce their use of fossil fuels, but they are easy to fix. In many cities, populations are growing and aging at the same time, they are suffering from the effects of global warming, and congestion is causing urban sprawl, resulting in people emitting more carbon dioxide and buying more cars to drive long distances.

Content of the article

Content of the article

The solution, according to Junka-Adenot, is to rethink urban sprawl by redeveloping cities and their suburbs, making them accessible and sustainable, with needed services close by and public transit.

“Cities need to be active leaders in the solution,” he said. “There is no choice, and we have to do it now.”

According to Normand Mousseau, a professor at Polytechnique de Montréal and director of the Trottier Institute, the problem is that while cities have a role in the development of their territories that affects energy consumption, changes can take decades. In addition, industries are major players in terms of greenhouse gas generation over which municipalities have little control.

And if Quebec doesn't follow through on its promises, cities will have little impact, Mousseau said.

“The difficulty is speed. We will not meet our 2030 targets because there has been no action from Quebec since we voted on these targets in 2016.

“You can't magically hope to achieve the goals in 2030 after 15 years of inaction.”

Mousseau predicts that Quebec's population will increase by 50 percent by 2050, with increased international migration fueled by global warming further hampering the province's efforts to use less energy.

Content of the article

For climate change solutions to work, they must have an economic logic that fits the ecological hierarchy, says Alain of the non-profit organization Chantier de l'économie sociale. For example, in Quebec, services are currently paid to recycle appliances such as refrigerators, stoves and air conditioners, when, as in some municipalities, it is more profitable to repair and resell them – a good solution for the environment, as well. social because it provides access to cheap household appliances. Quebec and Canada should shift more funding to reuse instead of recycling or support local agriculture instead of importing from abroad, Alain said.

For nearly 40 years, scientists have warned that things will get worse if we don't reduce greenhouse gases, noted Alain Bourquet, director general of the climate change research group Ouranos. Now is the time for decision makers and policy makers to use science to their advantage.

“We are sure that when we use terms like climate emergency or climate crisis, these are emotional words,” he said. One solution is to try to rationalize them by going back to science.

“It's not always a social choice that needs to be made. Sometimes there are facts that can be used.”

[email protected]

Content of the article

Content of the article