Overview

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• Mission, vision, values

• Fields of activity

• Services

• agencies

• Partners

• Clientele

Mission, vision, and values

Mission

Contributing to the sustainable development of Québec through environmental protection, biodiversity preservation and the fight against climate change.

Vision

In keeping with its key responsibilities to Quebecers as a whole and to its partners, the Ministère undertakes to:

Promote sustainable development by protecting Québec’s environment and natural heritage in cooperation with its partners

Values

To carry out its mission, the Ministère relies on the creativity of its employees and bases its actions on the values of equity, thoroughness, responsibility, transparency, and respect.

Fields of Activity

The Ministère operates in the following areas:

• Development and implementation of policies, laws, regulations, and programs on:
  • Preventing and reducing water, air, and ground contamination
  • Combating and adapting to climate change
  • Ensuring the quality of drinking water
  • Conserving biodiversity

  • Reducing, reclaiming, and managing residual materials

• Coordination of the government’s sustainable development initiative within the public service

• Development, coordination, and implementation of strategies for combating and adapting to climate change

• Protecting Québec’s ecosystems and biodiversity through the development of a network of protected areas that include national parks, and safeguarding endangered or vulnerable floristic species and their habitats

• Environmental assessment of projects and strategic evaluation of environmental issues

• Oversight of environmental protection law and regulation enforcement, especially through analysis of authorization and permit applications, inspections, inquiries and legal and administrative recourse

• Land management and integrity of Québec’s public water property, including operating public dams and monitoring dam safety

• Observing and gathering knowledge of ecosystems and their components

• Maintaining intergovernmental and international relations in its areas of interest

Services

The Ministère provides the following services:

• Delivers environmental authorizations and permits
• Responding to environmental emergencies
• Handling environmental complaints
• Conducting environmental analyses
• Certification/recognition of experts
• Issuing professional and technical environmental advisories
• Assisting government ministries and agencies in carrying out their sustainable developing initiatives
• Providing financial support for environmental organizations and projects
• Providing information and documentation on environmental and sustainable development

Agencies

Two agencies assist the Ministère in fulfilling its mission:

• The Centre d’expertise en analyse environnementale du Québec guarantees the availability, quality, and continuity of analytical data and expertise required to meet environmental protection and resource conservation needs. It works in the field of environmental (mainly biological, chemical, ecotoxicological, microbiological)  and quality system management analysis).
• The Centre d’expertise hydrique du Québec regulates water flow through public dam operation, land management and ensuring the integrity of public water property and dam safety control. The Center also helps municipalities identify flood-prone areas and flood prevention methods. More generally, it collects the hydrological and hydraulic data needed by the Ministère for managing Québec’s water resource.

Partners

The Ministère relies on two key partners to fulfill its mission. The Société québécoise de récupération et de recyclage (RECYC-QUÉBEC) promotes the reclamation of residual materials. The Bureau d’audiences publiques sur l’environnement (BAPE) conducts inquiries and public consultations.

The Ministère provides financial support to the Montréal Metropolitan Community (MMC) for clean air management on the Island of Montréal and helps enforce MMC Regulation 2001-10.

The Ministère also works closely with the Ministère des Transports, Ministère des Affaires municipales, des Régions et de l’Occupation du territoire, Ministère de l’Agriculture, des Pêcheries et de l’Alimentation, Ministère de la Sécurité publique, Ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux and its network, Ministère des Finances et de l'Économie, as well as various government agencies and municipalities. It maintains relations with environmental and conservation organizations, universities, research centers, and municipal, industrial, aboriginal and agricultural associations.

The Ministère also takes part in Canadian environmental forums, such as the Canadian Council of Environment Ministers, as well as international forums that deal with environmental issues, including the Conference of New England Governors and Eastern Canadian Premiers, the Council of Great Lakes Governors and the Great Lakes Commission. It also helps implement the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation and the Canada–United States Air Quality Agreement, and sits on the International St. Lawrence Board of Control, established by the International Joint Commission.

Québec has also established new international partnerships to combat climate change. It has been a member of the Climate Group and the Climate Registry since 2007 and joined the Western Climate Initiative and the International Carbon Action Partnership in 2008. In the same year, Québec signed a cooperation protocol with Ontario on the development of a carbon market in Canada and is an observer of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a North American measure.

Clientele

The Ministère du Développement durable, de l’Environnement et de la Lutte contre les changements climatiques acts on behalf of the citizens of Québec to ensure a healthy environment and contribute to their quality of life in order to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Specifically, the Ministère’s clientele includes individuals, groups and organizations, laboratories, and businesses that must obtain authorizations under environmental legislation, hold accreditations, are recognized as experts by the Ministère or that wish to exercise the rights granted to them under laws administered by the Ministère. Its clientele also includes anyone that request information or seek action for such purposes as preserving a natural environment or a species and wish to establish a conservation partnership.