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To tackle the global environmental crisis, we need more action and less finger-pointing — in Quebec and beyond.
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Climate change is a global issue that affects all of us, yet people in positions of power are resorting to childish “blame games” instead of taking responsibility. In a classic role reversal, while the adults in charge are acting like kids, the kids are using adult mechanisms to enforce responsibility.
The recent climate change protest in Montreal involved mostly students and youths. Yet, these young people demanding more action are not the ones who get to make the decisions in Quebec about emissions targets and the implementation of sustainable practices.
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The Quebec government recently updated its green economy plan, committing to contribute $9 billion to reduce emissions in the province. In his statement, Premier François Legault emphasized we have the lowest emissions per capita in North America and that Quebec is a leader. But do we count as a leader in “lowering our emissions” when the baseline that we started at was already much lower due to the hydroelectric infrastructure that we are lucky to have in this province?
It’s true that greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have decreased in Quebec since the 1990s. However, according to the 1990-2020 record, annual GHG emissions have been above 1990 levels in four years since and have risen some years. The lowest emissions occurred in 2020, most likely due to the pandemic and not necessarily because of the adoption of sustainable practices.
In the face of this type of blame-shifting, the mobilization of young people is not contained to Quebec; it’s become a pattern the world over. The number of climate change court cases has doubled in the last five years, with many of these cases being brought forward by kids and teenagers, including cases in Ontario, Hawaii, and Europe.
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In Montana, kids ranging in age from five to 22 sued the state over its role in supporting the fossil fuel industry and contributing to climate change — and won. They argued that their lives are changing from the impacts that climate change is having on their local environment and their health. They were not suing for money, but rather for changes to state law so that major projects must consider the impact of GHG emissions.
The defence argued that the state of Montana is too small to make a difference in climate change. This is like saying, “the mess that I made is smaller than the one they made, so my mess is irrelevant.” Although individuals can’t solve climate change, governments and other institutions can take meaningful action.
The state also claimed that it cannot be proved that the damages to the environment in Montana are from the specific fossil fuel emissions being released in the state.
But then who is responsible?
When looking at the research on GHG emissions, the amount produced depends on the way you approach the question. For instance, countries can quantify their emissions based on population size, total emissions over time, production of goods (exporters), or consumption of goods (importers).
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This makes direct comparisons difficult. When we shop online, the goods we order could be made in China then shipped over. Are the resulting CO2 emissions then part of our Canadian footprint or are they China’s responsibility? Are the emissions from our vehicles tied to Canada, or to the country where the fossil fuel was extracted in the first place?
Quebec’s position is a subtle way of passing the blame to other provinces and justifying inactivity. For Quebec to claim leadership in climate change mitigation, it needs to demonstrate that our emissions have meaningfully decreased over time.
The blame game doesn’t solve anything. It matters not who started it, but how we handle the current situation. It’s time to move past pointing fingers like schoolyard tattletales, to grow up, and to take action.
Brogan Stewart is a founding member of the Climate Emergency Committee, a public scholar and PhD candidate in environmental science at Concordia University.
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