Quebec 2021 emissions still lower than pre-pandemic levels: report

Emissions from a car's tailpipe is shown in this undated stock image. (Stefan Redel / Shutterstock.com)

Quebec recorded lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emission levels in 2021 than before the COVID-19 pandemic, but higher than in 2020, according to the government's reduction target report released Wednesday.

The province released 77.6 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent into the atmosphere in 2021, down 5.6 per cent from 2019.

However, there was a slight rebound from 2020, a year when several health measures slowed the economy and Quebecers released 74 million tons into the atmosphere.

"The year 2020 is the year of the pandemic, so we had to take the results with a grain of salt," said Quebec Environment Minister Benoit Charette at a press conference.

The 2021 results "are also figures that we have to take with a certain reserve," he said, adding that, "when we compare with 2019, it's encouraging."

According to the report, Quebec has maintained its position as having Canada's lowest GHG emissions per capita, with 9 tonnes of CO2 equivalent per inhabitant. That's about half the rate for Canada as a whole, set at 17.5 equivalent per inhabitant.

The transportation sector is still the main contributor to GHG emissions in Quebec.

In 2021, it generated 42.6 per cent of total emissions. However, the report points out that in 2021, emissions from this sector were below the pre-pandemic level.

Transport emissions have therefore fallen by 7.9 per cent compared with 2019.

The industrial sector is the second largest emitter, representing 32.3 per cent of total emissions.

According to the report, emissions from the industrial sector have fallen by 22 per cent since 1990.

Agriculture follows in third place, with 10.4 per cent of total GHG emissions.

The heating of residential, commercial and institutional buildings ranks fourth, with 9.1 per cent of emissions.

The residual materials sector, which has been declining in recent years, contributed 5.2 per cent.

FAR FROM THE 2030 TARGET

In 2015, following the Paris Agreement, Quebec gave itself the mission of reducing GHG emissions by 37.5 per cent compared to 1990 levels.

But emissions in the territory have only decreased by 8.9 per cent between 1990 and 2021. However, the report inventory doesn't take data from the carbon market into account. Should these numbers be factored in, there would be a more significant reduction in GHGs.

2022 FORECASTS

Data for the year 2022 is not yet fully assembled, but government officials who presented the report on Wednesday are forecasting, for the first time, a reduction in fuel consumption of 9 per cent, linked to a drop in the number of combustion-powered vehicles in 2022.

Charette indicated that, for the first time since 1985, the number of combustion-powered vehicles in Quebec would fall by an estimated 40,000 in 2022.

Despite the expected reduction in the number of combustion-powered vehicles, officials forecast a 1.4 per cent rise in total emissions in 2022, compared with 2021. This increase is explained in particular by the resumption of certain economic activities, which had been slowed down during the pandemic.

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