Francois Legault praises Quebec's environmental record in front of Al Gore

Quebec Premier François Legault bragged about his environmental record on Tuesday at a meeting of representatives of the Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance.

Former US vice president Al Gore was among them.

"We're working to make green aluminum, green steel, electric buses, and we're going to build all of that with clean energy," said the premier in English as he sat right next to Al Gore, who acted as chairman for the session.

Legault also explained to his colleagues that Quebec had stopped exploring for and exploiting hydrocarbons and would be selling clean energy from hydroelectricity in New York.

The meeting took place in a room at the Délégation générale du Québec in New York. Legault also drew a parallel between Quebec's distinctive identity and its actions for the environment.

"I am very proud to be able to say that if you look at the level of greenhouse gases per person, we have the lowest rate in Canada and the lowest in the United States," he said. "The future of humanity is at stake."

The former vice-president of the United States - who is also known as a fervent defender of the environmental cause - made a plea against fossil fuels.

"We will only really start to solve the climate crisis when we start to move rapidly away from coal, gas and oil," he said.

The former vice president also called for mobilization.

"Climate despair is, in itself, a form of denial," he said. "We don't have time to despair. We have our work cut out for us. The future of humanity is at stake."

The Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance is a group of governments working to phase out oil and gas production. Quebec is a member, as are France, Ireland and Portugal, among others.

It is led by the governments of Denmark and Costa Rica.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Sept. 20, 2023.