Eight Montreal universities are uniting to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and make their campuses more resilient to climate change.
Posted at 11:04 a.m.
Stéphane Blais
The Canadian Press
The city’s main university establishments will collaborate to measure their indirect scope 3 emissions and to adapt university campuses to the impacts of climate change.
The École de Technologie Supérieure (ÉTS), HEC Montréal, the National Institute of Scientific Research (INRS), Polytechnique Montréal, McGill University, Concordia University, the University of Montreal (UdeM) and the University du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) took advantage of the start of the Montreal Climate Summit, Tuesday morning at the Grand Quai du Port de Montréal, to make the announcement.
Measure scope 3 emissions
These establishments intend to develop a common methodology to measure their CO emissions2.
Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from a company or institution are classified into three categories called scope 1, scope 2 and scope 3.
Scope 1 corresponds to emissions emitted directly on the premises of the institution, for example those linked to the combustion of natural gas for heating.
Scope 2 emissions are linked to electricity consumption. They are not issued directly at the location, but rather at the time of its production.
Scope 3, or perimeter 3, emissions are often the most complex to calculate and it is for this reason that the universities have decided to come together to develop a common methodology.
These emissions are indirect and arise, for example, from the supply chain that provides goods and services.
In universities, these can refer to purchases of food products, student travel to campus, supplies of school materials or even residual materials.
“It’s very broad, we often compare CO emissions2 of scope 3 in the Far West because there are so many elements that we don’t know what to consider,” explained Ronald Jean-Gilles, director of the Sustainable Development Unit at UdeM.
If they want to collaborate to develop action plans and adaptation to climate change, universities must therefore develop a common methodology for calculating emissions, specified Mr. Jean-Gilles.
“The exercise we are going to do will help us identify the main elements that we want to quantify when we talk about scope 3 emissions and how we are going to measure them. »
Adapt campuses
The eight universities also plan to carry out a joint analysis of the risks and impacts of climate change on campuses.
For example, explained Ronald Jean-Gilles, “during extreme rain, there may be water infiltration in the buildings which means that it will have an impact on the courses that are given, so we may have to cancel courses, close pavilions for climatic reasons”.
High temperatures, major fires and other extreme weather events “remind us of the need to strengthen the resilience of our institutions and of Montreal as a whole in the face of climate challenges,” said the rector of McGill University, Deep Saini , in a press release.
He added “that acting quickly on these issues allows Montreal’s university sector to build a sustainable future for our city while inspiring other sectors to follow our example.”
The educational institutions intend to share methodologies and analyzes with external companies and organizations and also report on the implementation of their commitments at the next Montreal Climate Summit, in May 2025.
