Achieving Carbon Neutrality in Montreal Requires Non-Capitalist Production Models

Montreal is aiming to be carbon neutral by 2050 – with Montrealers generating an average of 5.5 tonnes of CO2 per person every year.

What sector needs to be addressed to really make the city carbon neutral?

Adriane MacDonald, Associate Professor in the Department of Management at Concordia University says much of our emissions come from road transportation – by 30%. 

MacDonald says for Montreal to become more green and more accessible, the city should look to expand the metro lines to reduce road traffic. 

But MacDonald notes that there's another large barrier standing in the way of achieving carbon neutrality. She says this is capitalism.

She says there are cultural norms that are prevalent in our society because of capitalism, including fast and large consumption resulting in large greenhouse gas emissions, which end in the products often not being used for long and ending up in landfills. MacDonald cited fast fashion as an example. MacDonald says our society doesn't know how to get out of these norms as its hard for businesses to complete unless on business growth model – which uses fast production methods.

She said that our society must radically change to prevent climate change and embrace the circular economy. This is a model of production and consumption which reduces waste and extends the life cycle of products. It includes recycling, reusing, sharing and refurbishing both products and materials.

MacDonald says it is possible for us to adopt new values, but that we shouldn't be naive about how difficult the transition will be.