Although the Quebec Government has set itself ambitious goals to reduce its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and ensure the province’s energy transfer, it is struggling to find ways to achieve them, the Commissioner decided for sustainable development.
Called to review the various measures the government has put in place to ensure the achievement of its climate targets, Commissioner Janique Lambert cited a series of shortcomings that threatened to compromise Québec’s energy transfer.
In his report, filed Wednesday morning in the National Assembly, the Commissioner said the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources (MERN) was not in a position to follow up on the measures put in place as part of its Energy Policy. . 2030, and puts at risk the achievement of its goals.
Note that the government aims to reduce GHG emissions by 37.5% by 2030 compared to their level in 1990.
According to the Commissioner, the MERN does not provide an analysis of the progress made for each of the five targets the government has promised to achieve in 2030.
The ministry is also not in position […] draw a complete picture of the progress of the implementation of the master plan, its results are laggingemphasizes Ms. Lambert.
However, several billion dollars of public funds will be injected into Quebec’s energy transfer program.
Upon failure to conduct strict follow-up, the ministry therefore does not have all the information necessary to retrieve wise decisionssaid the Commissioner for Sustainable Development.
Since the implementation of the energy transfer policy in 2016, GHG emissions from energy consumption per capita have been rising, according to the report.
Costs without performance evaluation
except MERNthe Ministry of Environment and the Fight against Climate Change (MELCC) was also criticized for its poor management of the Electrification and Climate Change Fund.
The former Green Fund – renamed in October 2020 during climate change management reform – is the second largest of the Quebec Government’s special funds. By taking from this fund Quebec finances its Plan for a Green Economy 2030, which should contribute to achieving GHG reduction targets.
But now the MELCC allocated 80% of the Fund’s planned spending-or $ 5.4 billion of the $ 6.7 billion for the period 2021-2026-to measures it did not makeperformance was previously evaluatedsaid Commissioner Lambert.
” [Le ministère] is unable to monitor the performance of actions funded by the Fund and the achievement of the objectives of the Plan for a Green Economy 2030. “
Although it did study the effectiveness of these measures, the ministry still has not done so and is continuing make huge amounts, can we read there. By delaying this review, the department cannot make the necessary adjustments to ensure that these actions actually yield results.
Little monitoring of the impact of road salts
The issue of road salts, which are used to keep roads freezing in winter and reduce dust in summer, is another example of the implementation of strategies that the government is forced to follow.
Despite the adoption of a Quebec Strategy for the Environmental Management of Road Salts in 2010, the Quebec Ministry of Transport (MTQ), which is responsible for its implementation, has still not, to date, ensured that it does all it is possible to limit the effects of these salts on the environment.
Once spread on the roads, road salts get into the waterways and affect its quality. Fauna and flora are affected.
In Quebec, the government has entrusted the winter maintenance of approximately 80% of the road network to subcontractors. They are under the responsibility of MTQ. However, the ministry unfamiliar with the spread of skills of its subcontractors, and therefore have no idea of the effects of these techniques on the environment, summarizes the commissioner.
Ms. noticed. Lambert with the contracts signed by these subcontractors minimal requirements about best dispersion practices. The department also does not encourage them to find out about the negative effects of road salts.
And although methods were developed during pilot projects to reduce the effects of spreading de-icing salt on the environment, the ministry has been slow to use them.
The Commissioner is also concerned about repeated delays in the review of the government’s sustainable development strategy, which has delayed the government in implementing its policies since 2006.
Initially scheduled for December 2020, the review was postponed to March 31, 2022, before being set on October 27, 2022, the deadline set by law. However, Ms. doubted. Lambert that the government is capable of carrying out a complete and rigorous revision within the allotted time.
A public consultation with a parliamentary committee should be conducted before the revision is presented next October, he recalled.
Due to the approval of the Sustainable Development Act, the commissioner pointed out, the five-year timeframe set for the review of the strategy was never respected.
Source: Radio-Canada
