2023-04-27 13:30:00
With 209 green projects that have received financial support of $703 million from Investissement Québec (IQ), Compétivert has largely exceeded its initial objective of $375 million in three years. For its two years, the program has a new asset: a diagnostic tool that will allow companies to assess their greenhouse gas emissions.
Launched two years ago, Compétivert aimed to encourage Quebec companies to invest in projects for the adoption of clean technologies and eco-responsible practices. According to the results to be unveiled on Thursday, a third of the $703 million in funding granted by Investissement Québec was aimed at the electrification of transportation and 20%, the development of renewable energy.
The popularity of the program has been so explosive that we have tripled the initial objective, which is 1 billion by 2024. This sum comes from IQ’s own funds as well as those managed as an agent for the Government of Quebec, and comes in various redeemable investments, some with portions that can be erased under certain conditions.
PHOTO ROBERT SKINNER, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Guy LeBlanc, CEO of Investissement Québec
“We were far from certain that this year we would have the same success as the first year,” said Guy LeBlanc, CEO of Investissement Québec, in an interview. With a period of significant uncertainty, it was surprising that they participated so much. But companies feel the responsibility to do something, with social pressure, that of their employees. »
Of all sizes
A study carried out by the organization Québec Net Positif, in collaboration with Investissement Québec, nevertheless made it possible to make some interesting observations: if 87% of manufacturing companies consider that it is urgent to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHG ), only 12% have carried out an inventory of their own emissions. Nearly one in two has still not implemented any climate action, according to this Barometer of the transition of companies 2022 – manufacturing sector. Hence the idea of making available a new diagnostic component specifically on GHGs, an exercise lasting four to six weeks. The $20,000 cost is 75% subsidized by the Ecoleader fund.
“The ultimate objective is to involve our experts in identifying the actions that will have the maximum impact,” explains Nicolas Turgeon, Director of Industrial Environmental Performance at Investissement Québec. It’s an additional perspective that we offer, the potential for reducing GHGs is very concrete. »
The companies targeted, among the approximately 260,000 in Quebec, are of all sizes, “from start-ups to Pratt & Whitney working on an electric motor,” says Mr. Leblanc. And what if the 1 billion target is exceeded before 2024? “The budget is infinite! replies the CEO. We want to be carbon neutral by 2050. Our priority is to increase productivity and foster innovation, and that involves clean technologies. »
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- 60 %
- Proportion of Quebec manufacturing companies who believe that the ecological transition makes it possible to “create and offer products, solutions and services that correspond to new needs and market expectations”
source: Quebec net positive, April 2023
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