Montréal Mayor Valerie Plante took advantage of the opening of the Montréal Climate Summit to announce three measures that will bring her vision of Pontevedra to Old Montréal and the decarbonization of transport in the metropolis in general.
Mayor Plante plans to make a significant part of Old Montreal vehicle free as early as 2024.
“The time to work with partners, merchants and residents” to “find solutions” and “put in place what needs to be put in place for this to be a success,” Plante said Tuesday morning.
She said that transportation is responsible for 40 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions in Quebec and that the costs of road congestion are estimated at $4 billion in Greater Montréal.
Montréal’s Henri-Bourassa Transformation
The Mayor also intends to transform Henri-Bourassa Boulevard into a “sustainable mobility corridor” by increasing the space for pedestrians and integrating a rapid bus service.
The boulevard, which is eight car lanes wide over several kilometres and creates a divide in neighbourhoods, will also be integrated into the city’s bike path route (REV).
Montreal’s Mayor also wants to improve the Colibri project, which aims to reduce the negative impacts of the last kilometre of delivery, the most expensive in the logistics chain.
GEP Funding For Active Transport Doubled
Quebec Environment Minister Benoit Charette spoke to participants virtually on Tuesday.
He announced that he would “double the funding for active transportation” in the next version of the Green Economy Plan (GEP).
Montréal’s Second Climate Summit
Montreal’s business, philanthropic, political, community, environmental and citizen leaders are participating in the second edition of the Montréal Climate Summit on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The event is taking place at the Grand Quay of the Port of Montreal.
The summit “aims to accelerate climate action in the city by 2030” and the organizers, Partenariat Climat Montréal and the City of Montreal, promise “new large-scale and structuring commitments for the city.”
Canada’s Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault is expected to address the summit on Wednesday.
Several workshops will address issues such as decarbonization of buildings and transportation, the fight against climate change from an inequality perspective, the role of business and finance in the fight against climate change and the role of philanthropy and the health sector in the climate effort.