Mexico

The essential role federated states play in the fight against climate change

Friday, October 23, 2009

Environment

In a video interview for L'Express.fr, Québec’s Minister of Sustainable Development, Environment and Parks, Line Beauchamp, described the concerted effort of federated states, including Québec, to have their essential role recognized in the text of the next United Nations agreement on climate change.

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Image: <I>L'Express.fr</I>

Minister Beauchamp believes there is “a very strong message” from federated states, primarily carried forward by the Climate Group, to have the role of subnational governments taken into account in the implementation of decisions that will be made during the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in December. Minister Beauchamp furthermore emphasized that France’s Prime Minister François Fillon and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon are both in favour of recognizing the role of federated states.

The interview took place in early October with the assistance of the Québec Government Office in Paris during a mission to Europe by the Minister. The mission’s purpose was to gather support for recognizing the contribution of federated states in the implementation of mitigation and adaptation policies dealing with climate change. For some time now, the Québec government has been stepping up its participation in various platforms and events to promote it viewpoints in anticipation of Copenhagen.

As a result, Premier Charest recently participated in a number of preparatory meetings such as Climate Week in New York, the Governors' Global Climate Summit in California, and the Conference of New England Governors and Eastern Canadian Premiers in New Brunswick. In addition, during Premier Charest’s mission to Europe, French Prime Minister François Fillon acknowledged the important role played by Québec in the fight against climate change. While in France and Belgium, Minister Beauchamp met with France’s Ambassador for International Climate Change Negotiations, Brice Lalonde, the Secretary General of the International Organization of La Francophonie, Abdou Diouf, and the President of the Committee of the Regions, Luc Van den Brande.

In parallel with these meetings, the National Assembly will consult different stakeholders over the coming weeks in order to establish a new GHG emissions reduction target for Québec for the year 2020. The target will be made public before the Copenhagen Conference.

The steps Québec is taking in preparation for Copenhagen can be tracked on a new website: QuebecatCopenhagen.gouv.qc.ca. In addition to providing information on events and activities related to climate change in which the Québec Government will participate, the site indicates the major policies Québec has implemented and gives a history of the fight against climate change.

Interview with Minister Beauchamp for L'Express.fr
Québec at Copenhagen: moving to a green economy