Quebec pushes back greenhouse gas reduction target by five years to 2035

Smoke and water vapor rises from a stack. Photographer: Bloomberg Creative Photos/Bloomberg Creative Collection

The Quebec government announced Thursday that it’s pushing back its greenhouse gas reduction target by five years to protect the economy and jobs, as environmental groups warned that the delay could have serious consequences down the line.

Environment Minister Bernard Drainville announced in a news release that the government will not meet its goal of reducing annual emissions by 37.5 per cent below 1990 levels by 2030. 

This target has now been set for 2035— a timeline the government describes as ambitious yet realistic.

“This decision allows us to stay on course with the energy transition and green energy, while protecting our economic fabric and our jobs,” the government said in a news release.

The government said that Quebec has reduced its annual greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 20 per cent since 1990. 

Drainville said achieving the other half of the target in just five years would risk economic damage at a time of uncertainty and tariff threats from the U.S. He noted that several of Quebec’s trading partners have already backtracked on their climate commitments. 

Canada and other governments around the world previously agreed under the international Paris Agreement on climate change to hold the increase in global average temperatures to well below 2 C above pre-industrial levels and pursue efforts to limit global warming to less than 1.5 degrees C.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, made up of scientists and senior government officials from around the world, says humans need to avoid crossing the 1.5 C threshold to avoid severe impacts that can damage ecosystems and the economy. But the panel also says countries can prevent the most serious impacts by slashing consumption of fossil fuels and scaling back other activity that contributes to warming the atmosphere.

Drainville said Quebec remains committed to achieving carbon neutrality by 2050.

The announcement was slammed by environmental groups and the political opposition, who said the decision would only increase costs for Quebecers down the road. 

A Quebec committee that advises the government on climate change also criticized the delay, saying the efforts to reach future targets would become more abrupt and costly.

“Postponing the climate target does not lessen the scale of the effort required to decarbonize our society,” wrote the Comité consultatif sur les changements climatiques. “It concentrates emissions reductions over a shorter period, thereby increasing the technical, economic, and social challenges in the medium and long term.” 

The delay represents a “a disalignment of Quebec’s trajectory with the objective of the Paris Agreement,” the committee said.

The group said the United Kingdom is targeting for an 81 per cent reduction in its emissions by 2035, while the European Union is aiming for 90 per cent by 2040, and California has committed to reaching carbon neutrality by 2045.

A collection of environmental organizations also denounced the decision, saying it runs counter to science and the consensus established in public consultations at the legislature. 

“Last spring, we applauded (the government’s) defence of the carbon market, which is a cornerstone of our climate change policy,” wrote the groups, which include the David Suzuki Foundation and Nature Quebec. “However, this backtracking on the climate target weakens the very foundation of the carbon market and undermines the confidence of economic actors towards Quebec’s climate governance.”

Équiterre, another environment group, suggested the government is letting young Quebecers down.

“We’ve been hearing about balancing the economy and the environment with the principle of sustainable development since 1987,” said Marc-André Viau, the group’s director of government relations. “The evolution of the climate proves to us without a doubt that this balance is always to the disadvantage of the environment.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 22, 2026.

- With files from Stéphane Blais in Montreal