The Caisse to present REM project at UN climate conference

MONTREAL -

The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec will promote the Réseau express métropolitain (REM) project at the United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP26, which begins Sunday in Glasgow, Scotland.

The Caisse president, Charles Émond, will be part of the Quebec delegation accompanying Premier François Legault to this major international summit on the environment.

In a telephone interview with The Canadian Press on Saturday, Émond said the business model of the REM currently developing in the Montreal region is of interest to several foreign governments.

"The REM is on everyone's lips," he said. 

"It's a business model that interests several foreign governments, particularly because of the advantageous risk-return trade-off it offers."

 The Caisse is the "only institution" that does the "complete integration" of the model, said Émond, from financing to construction and operation.

However, he added that the Caisse has not yet reached the stage of exporting the model. The Caisse wants to finalize the construction of the network's branches in Montreal before embarking on similar projects abroad.

On Wednesday, Émond will take part in a panel discussion with the executive director of the United Nations Environment Program, Inger Andersen, under the direction of Mark Carney, the former governor of the Bank of Canada, now at the Bank of England.

--This report was first published in French by The Canadian Press on Oct. 30, 2021.