Quebec could adjust its climate plan after Trump’s arrival: ministry

Quebec Minister of the Environment, the Fight Against Climate Change, Wildlife and Parks and Minister Responsible for the Laurentides Region, Benoit Charette, delivers remarks on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, on Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Spencer Colby (Spencer Colby/The Canadian Press)

The Plan for a Green Economy, which includes Quebec’s electrification and climate change policies, could be adjusted as a result of the new American president’s decisions.

This is what the provincial environment minister hinted at during a news scrum in Saint-Sauveur on Tuesday.

“We don’t want to penalize the Quebec economy, so if ever there were to be major tariffs imposed on Quebec businesses and industries, we won’t add another layer with additional environmental constraints,” said Benoit Charette.

The minister added that the Plan for a Green Economy, which is due to be updated in the coming months, “will take account of the new political situation” and will have to be “adjusted”, without specifying the nature of these adjustments.

Charette also expressed concern that the increase in greenhouse gas emissions, which is likely to be triggered by the new American political directions, risks “cancelling out the efforts of others” because “greenhouse gases have no borders.”

Donald Trump signed several executive orders on Monday that are likely to put the brakes on the previous administration’s decarbonization efforts.

The new president, who has already described climate change as a hoax, promised to increase gas and oil production, eliminate support for electric vehicle purchases, dismantle the environmental policies enshrined in the Inflation Reduction Act and take the country out of the Paris Climate Agreement, among other measures.

Paris Agreement

On the subject of the United States' withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, Charette pointed out that the American President “did the same thing during his first term in office” and that this did not “prevent certain American States from continuing their actions.”

However, Charette added: “If major players withdraw from the Paris Agreement, this could have an impact on global emissions.”

The carbon market

Charette also indicated that the American retreat in the fight against climate change and the possible disappearance of carbon pricing for individuals in Canada do not call into question the relevance of the carbon exchange, the cap-and-trade system for GHG emissions in which Quebec and California participate.

“The carbon exchange has already survived a Trump administration and various federal governments,” Charette pointed out, adding that “it is an exchange that performs well and promotes economic development in Quebec.”

According to the province’s most recent GHG inventory, as of 2022, Quebec has reduced its emissions by 19 per cent compared to 1990 levels.

Also according to the inventory published by the government, a 12 per cent reduction in GHGs is attributable to the carbon market.

Like Quebec since 2013, California has been managing a cap-and-trade program for greenhouse gas emissions since 2012.

These two markets were linked on Jan. 1, 2014.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Jan. 21, 2025.