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 the original goal has been tripled to 1 billion by 2024. can be deleted under certain conditions.
“We were far from sure 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. »
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 completed an inventory of their own emissions. Nearly one in two has still not implemented any climate action, according to this 2022 Business Transition Barometer – 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 goal 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 is 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
