Mylène Drouin, Montreal’s regional director of public health, asserts that in the face of the climate emergency, the time for half-hearted measures is over. With the 2024 Montreal Climate Summit looming, Drouin, serving as co-chair, emphasizes the urgent need for the city to ramp up its efforts towards greater resilience and bigger focus on ecology, regardless of potential social resistance.
Drouin stresses that Montreal just as the rest of major cities in Canada must tackle a myriad of challenges head-on, including reducing greenhouse gas emissions, enhancing urban green spaces, promoting active transportation, combating climate change, and safeguarding vulnerable communities. She believes that there’s no room for hesitancy in these critical times, even if it means making unpopular decisions.
Reflecting on past initiatives, such as traffic calming measures in boroughs like Le Plateau-Mont-Royal and Rosemont–La Petite-Patrie, Drouin acknowledges the controversies they stirred. However, she argues that such transitions are necessary, and the city must swiftly transition from experimental phases to widespread implementation of sustainable practices.
The Montreal Climate Summit, organized by the Montreal Climate Partnership in collaboration with the Grand Montreal Foundation and the Trottier Family Foundation, aims to serve as a platform for dialogue and collaboration among various stakeholders. It will convene representatives from the business sector, environmental organizations, labor unions, community groups, and government officials, including Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante and federal Minister of Environment and Climate Change Steven Guilbeault.
The summit provides an opportunity to review past commitments and assess their tangible outcomes. Previous summits have seen pledges such as phasing out fossil fuel heating systems in new buildings by 2024 and transitioning the city’s entire real estate sector to renewable energy by 2040, a decade ahead of schedule.
Christian Savard, from Vivre en ville and part of the organizing committee, believes these commitments have spurred action, citing initiatives like building decarbonization regulations adopted by both Montreal and major property owners. However, he acknowledges that challenges remain, particularly in decarbonizing existing buildings.
Anne-Marie Hubert, Managing Partner for Eastern Canada at EY and event co-chair, underscores the critical role of the private sector in combating climate change. She calls for enhanced coordination and collaboration among different levels of government and private entities to achieve common objectives.
In Hubert’s view, the summit provides a valuable platform for knowledge-sharing and showcasing effective adaptation strategies. While it may not single-handedly solve the climate crisis, it can catalyze concrete actions among participants to address pressing environmental challenges.