Ten Quebec universities unite to declare climate emergency

Québec, September 24, 2019 – At the invitation of the Réseau universitaire québécois en développement durable, ten Quebec universities are making common cause and joining the worldwide movement of higher learning institutions that aims to declare a state of climate emergency. By signing the declaration, these universities recognize the need for social change in the struggle against the growing climate change threat by making three structural commitments:

1. A commitment to become carbon-neutral by 2030, or 2050 at the latest.
2. Allocating more resources for research aiming to fight climate change and develop related skills.
3. Increasing the availability of environmental and sustainability education in academic programs, on campuses, and in community-awareness programs.

This movement was initiated by The Alliance for Sustainability Leadership in Education (EAUC), Second Nature and the Youth and Education Alliance of the UN Environment Program. It represents 45 higher education learning networks spanning 8,411 institutions on six continents. In addition to these, 163 higher learning institutions have signed the declaration on an individual basis.

This declaration will be made official and broadcast to the main government representatives and media during the Conference of Parties (COP 25) which will take place from December 2nd to 13, 2019 in Santiago, Chile. This collaboration between many Quebec universities illustrates the necessity of acting all together to face this social challenge. Universities signing the declaration intend to deploy every effort necessary to support this commitment with concrete, measurable actions in order to play a leadership role and to set an example within their community

The participating universities are:

École de technologie supérieure
HEC Montréal
Polytechnique Montréal
Bishop's University
Concordia University
Université de Montréal
Université de Sherbrooke
Université du Québec à Montréal
Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières
Université Laval