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In a brief submitted as part of the Quebec government’s public consultations on its Electrification and Climate Change Plan (ECCP), Équiterre outlined 27 recommendations for addressing the climate crisis.
“Quebec is wealthy province within Canada, where GHG emissions per capita are among the world’s highest,” states Colleen Thorpe, Équiterre’s Executive Director. “We therefore have a historic responsibility and the means to tackle the climate crisis - an opportunity to position ourselves as a global leader in the most serious challenge facing humanity.”
ÉQUITERRE’S RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE ECCP
As a member of the committee of experts helping to develop the ECCP, Équiterre is working with the government to ensure that the plan, to be unveiled in early 2020, is commensurate with the climate crisis that we are facing. The brief submitted last week is another element of our work on the ECCP, detailing our vision for the decarbonization of Quebec’s economy.
In addition to recommendations for cross-cutting actions for ambitious greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction targets and the processes and tools to achieve them, Équiterre’s brief contains recommendations on land development, transportation, industry, buildings, agriculture and waste management. Here are a few examples:
- Revise Quebec’s GHG emissions reduction target to align it with the science, in order to cut our emissions to at least half of 2010 levels by 2030 and plan for net zero emissions by 2050;
- Create and implement a just transition plan to ensure that all of Quebec society is prepared for the human, social and economic costs of the changes that will come from the economic transition;
- Eliminate all fossil fuel subsidies in Quebec by 2025;
- Prohibit construction or expansion in Quebec of any infrastructure designed to increase exploration, production, transportation, distribution or consumption of fossil fuels, such as coal, oil and natural gas;
- Adopt a moratorium on road network expansion;
- Strengthen the Act to increase the number of zero-emission motor vehicles in Québec so that in 2030, 100% of new passenger vehicles sold in Quebec are zero-emission;
- Modify the Regulation respecting the recovery and reclamation of products by enterprises in order to broaden the Extended Producer Responsibility to appliances;
- Boost public assistance for agricultural enterprises that implement a plan to reduce their carbon footprint and to ensure soil regeneration and protection;
- Adopt a national policy on land management and sustainable urban development.
The 27 recommendations in our brief are the basis of our demands and our work with the Quebec government on climate change issues.
THE VOICE OF QUEBECERS
In cooperation with other environmental groups, Équiterre encouraged Quebecers to participate in the ECCP public consultations through a citizen brief that was sent to consultation officials. More than 3,000 people took part. The recommendations and requests contained in each of the briefs submitted during the public consultation will be compiled, analyzed and considered in the ECCP elaboration process.