Quebec's emissions are climbing, putting its climate goals in doubt

When it comes to the fight against climate change, the province of Quebec is stumbling.

This week, the Coalition Avénir Quebec government confirmed greenhouse gas emissions in the province climbed by 1.5 per cent in 2019, the latest year for which figures are available, putting Quebec further away from its Paris Agreement goals. 

In announcing the setback, Quebec Environment Minister Benoit Charette sought to lay blame on the policies of those in power before his government took office in 2018, blaming in particular the new McInnis cement plant in the Gaspé region in eastern Quebec.

He also acknowledged the enormity of the task ahead. 

"We have to tell the truth," Charette told a news conference Wednesday. "The challenge is huge."

But environmentalists and experts say the province, which is rich in hydroelectric power, hasn't done enough to curb emissions, especially those produced by cars and trucks.

By 2030, Quebec's emissions are supposed to be 37.5 per cent lower than they were in 1990. At this point, they are only 2.7 per cent below 1990 levels.

"Transportation is really the key sector where we could do better, we should do better," said Pierre-Olivier Pineau, chair of energy sector management at HEC Montréal's business school.

"The reason why emissions grow in Quebec and throughout Canada, it's really because people love their SUVs and they buy more cars. So not only do we have bigger cars, but we have a larger number of them. It's actually growing faster than the population, so people are buying more and more cars."

The federal government released its own figures in April, showing that Canada's overall emissions had gone up 0.2 per cent in 2019.

The CAQ climate plan, released last year, is focused on getting more people to use electric cars and to power more industrial production with hydroelectricity. The government has said it would ban new gas-powered vehicles in 2035.

Those changes will help, Pineau said, but a more ambitious mix of investments in public transit and regulatory changes are needed.

Transportation — including personal vehicles and freight — accounted for 43 per cent of Quebec's emissions in 2019. (Industrial emitters, by comparison, accounted for 29 per cent.)

"In addition to these good initiatives, they should make sure that they don't expand the area where people live. And … because urban sprawl is a problem, we should identify the regions where people live," Pineau said.