Québec's Objectives

Despite government commitment and significant progress made in several parts of the world, carbon footprint calculations are complex and are faced with different methodological and practical challenges. Given these issues, the ministère des Finances et de l’Économie (MFEQ) conducted a pilot project on the carbon footprint of products to explore the limitations of current methods and to guide subsequent developments in Québec.

Specifically, the pilot aimed to:

• Identify international best practices for the quantification, verification, certification and communication of product carbon footprints;
• Test current methods of quantification and verification in order to assess the level of comparability and reproducibility of results;
• Develop and strengthen knowledge and skills in Québec in the area of product carbon footprinting and LCA;
• Help Québec gain credibility that will allow it to assume a leadership role to promote the harmonization of international best practices;
• Prepare Québec companies to the growing demands of major clients (eg Walmart, European and Asian governments, etc.);
• Promote the competitive advantage that Québec products get from the low carbon footprint of hydroelectricity;
• Determine the feasibility of deploying across Québec a program based on the carbon footprint of products and guide its eventual implementation.