Trump’s arrival: Quebec could adjust its climate plan

Posted January 21, 2025 2:37 pm.
The Green Economy Plan, which includes Quebec’s electrification and climate change policies, could be adjusted in light of the new U.S. president’s decisions.
That’s what the provincial environment minister hinted at during a press 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, on Quebec 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 should be updated in the coming months, “will take into account 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 expected to result from the new U.S. political direction could “cancel out the efforts of others,” as “GHGs 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 previously called climate change a hoax, has promised to increase gas and oil production, eliminate support for electric vehicle purchases, dismantle 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, Minister Charette recalled that the American president “had done the same thing during his first term” and that this had not “prevented certain American states from continuing their actions”.
However, added Minister Charette, “if major players withdraw from the Paris Agreement, it could have an impact on global emissions.”
The carbon market
Minister Charette also indicated that the American retreat in the fight against climate change, as well as 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 mandate and also survived various governments at the federal level,” Benoit Charette recalled, adding that ”it’s an exchange that performs well and promotes economic development at the Quebec level.”
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 government’s inventory, a 12 per cent reduction in GHGs is attributable to the carbon market.
Like Quebec since 2013, California has operated a cap-and-trade program for greenhouse gas emissions since 2012. These two markets were linked on Jan. 1, 2014.
–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews