Debates Videos
News
International
Business
Sports
car
Arts
Cinema
Society
greedy
Trip
House
Policy
Greater Montreal
Regional
Justice and news
Health
Education
surveys
Unusual
Environment
science
Green Fund redirected to fight climate change
PHOTO YAN DOUBLET, ARCHIVES THE SUN
Benoit Charette, Minister of the Environment
(Quebec) The Legault government intends to redirect billions of dollars spent on climate change.
Posted on October 31, 2019 at 3:09 pm
Patrice Bergeron
The Canadian Press
Under Bill 44 tabled Thursday, Environment Minister Benoit Charette will take control of the huge sums of the Green Fund, which was dedicated to reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The opposition is already cries out for political interference in the management of the envelope, while some environmental organizations have expressed concerns.
The government wants to abolish the management board of this fund and reallocate some of the money to adapt to climate change.
Climate adaptation
"We had too little room for adaptation to climate change," Charette pleaded in a press conference. For example, building a dyke to stop bank erosion is an adaptation measure to climate change, but does not contribute to GHG reduction.
The minister argued that the pot will not be used to finance the Third Link project between Quebec City and Lvis, or the controversial project for a natural gas liquefaction plant in Saguenay.
Currently, the Green Fund - which would be renamed the Electrification and Climate Change Fund (FECC) after the legislation is passed - is devoted approximately 90% to GHG reduction measures and 10% to GHG reduction. adaptation.
As well, two-thirds of the money is spent on transportation and this proportion is also likely to change.
GHG reduction targets
In a press conference, Mr. Charette stated that he does not fear "not at all" to miss Quebec's GHG reduction targets, even if the sums are invested for other purposes.
Year after year, the Green Fund has accumulated a little more than $ 1 billion in its coffers, mainly from the sale of emission rights on the carbon exchange.
Mr. Charette would have the last word on the allocation of amounts, but ensures that they will be paid in accordance with the guidelines and targets, and in addition, under the supervision of two "watchdogs": an independent scientific committee and the Commissioner of Sustainable Development.
The minister also acknowledged that the FECC is seen by the government as "a great tool for economic development, however, with the condition that each project generates a significant reduction in GHG emissions."
"Political interference"
Opposition parties have criticized Bill 44 in turn. The Liberal Environment Critic, Marie Montpetit, sees this as an effort to centralize power in the hands of the minister and weaken independent bodies.
"It can give way, definitely, to political interference and it should worry us greatly," she said in a press conference.
Similarly, MP Ruba Ghazal, of Quebec Solidaire, suspects that the ministers will struggle to tap the envelope and get their hands on the sums.
"It will be the one around the council of ministers who will shout the strongest who can get their hands in the pot and get the money," she worried.
"All powers"
For its part, the Parti Qubcois believes that "the bill does not meet the scope of the issue that is the climate crisis." GHG reduction targets are not enshrined in the law, as is the case in many countries, said Sylvain Gaudreault, MNA for Jonquire.
"We face a minister who arrogates all powers, he said. My fear is that the minister, alone in his office, or with his advisers, says: "Yes to such a project, we are approaching the election, it is in a riding that we want to win, and not in another, because it is in a county that we will not win anyway. " "
Environmental organizations have recognized the relevance of reforming the Green Fund, but are worried about the solutions provided by the Caquist government.
The proposed reform is likely to waste precious time in Quebec, even though it is already lagging far behind in meeting its GHG reduction targets, Greenpeace spokesman Patrick Bonin said in a statement. .
"We needed to reform the Green Fund, but we are concerned that the use of the new fund will remain highly politicized," he said.
For its part, quiterre is concerned about the projected changes in