Montreal, 10th May 2023 – As part of the Montreal Climate Summit, the Trottier Family Foundation is announcing its involvement with a $10 million investment to decarbonize hospitals and healthcare facilities and improve their resilience to climate change. The Trottier Family Foundation will provide funding of $2 million per year for the next five years. This funding will aim at better integrating climate change into the activities of the Greater Montreal health network, and eventually throughout Quebec, particularly to reduce greenhouse gases.
The Foundation has been providing funding for over 20 years in traditional areas such as science, health, environment and education. It also works specifically on climate issues, for example with the creation of the Montreal Climate Partnership. With this $10 million investment, the Foundation is now creating a health-climate program that demonstrates the importance of acting on these two interrelated fronts.
This new involvement combining health and climate will make it possible to support specific projects, starting this year, in order to:
reduce GHG emissions related to the use of anesthetic gases at the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC);
support health institutions in the Greater Montreal area in the creation of their GHG inventories and to reduce their emissions;
identify areas with unfavourable environmental characteristics and where people are in vulnerable situations, in the hope of raising awareness among public actors and the general public of the reality of territorial inequities, particularly in terms of public health;
develop solutions to better integrate climate action and net zero objectives within the Quebec health network.
With this major commitment, the Trottier Family Foundation hopes to promote a better linkage between climate considerations and activities related to the health sector, while inspiring other philanthropic foundations to follow suit through their strategic investments.
Quotes:
“Since the health care system contributes about 5% of our greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and given that the climate crisis is recognized as the greatest threat to our health care system by health care professionals, we feel it is necessary to contribute to the collective effort to address this issue. Traditionally, most of the philanthropic funding has been directed to health issues, but very little has been invested in the environment, and even less in the intersection between health and climate - which is what we are seeking to do today with this new program. We hope that other philanthropic foundations involved in the health sector will also be able to integrate the climate emergency into their own programs.” Eric St-Pierre, Executive Director at the Trottier Family Foundation
“Only 5% of the anesthetic gases used during surgery are absorbed by the body, which means that 95% of these potent greenhouse gases are released into the environment. The MUHC Foundation is proud to partner with the Trottier Family Foundation and the MUHC to implement a new system that will capture these gases and process them for reuse. It is incredibly important that we reduce health care emissions while continuing to ensure excellence in care for patients. Thanks to the Trottier Family Foundation, the MUHC will be able to reduce approximately 550 tonnes of CO2 equivalent per year.” Julie Quenneville, President & CEO, MUHC Foundation
“There is a growing appetite in our health care institutions for an effective and consistent shift towards net zero objectives, which is perfectly aligned with our first commitment as health care professionals of “first, do no harm”. The transition to eco-responsible care gives meaning to our clinical practices and allows us to articulate daily a desire to align human health and environmental health considering the challenges we are faced with: climate crisis, pollution, decline of biodiversity. We will all benefit from having health systems that lead by example and that contribute significantly to the reduction of greenhouse gases.” Dre Claudel Pétrin-Desrosiers, board member of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE) and Chair of the Association québécoise des médecins pour l’environnement (AQME)
“This innovative and unifying project, developed and piloted by Synergie Santé Environnement (SSE), supported by the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE) and funded by the Trottier Family Foundation, includes three interrelated and complementary components, which will be based, within the health and social services sector, on the realization of GHG inventories and the identification of concrete actions to achieve GHG reduction targets. The project will also review available data evidence within the sector, in order to make informed decisions with regards to changes in practices and/or products usage, as well as developing new environmental health performance indicators in order to estimate the economic, social and health impacts associated with increased GHG emissions.” Nathalie Robitaille, executive director, Synergie Santé Environnement (SSE)
“Through its Réseau d'action pour la santé durable du Québec, the Association pour la Santé Publique du Québec ensures the sustainable health of the Quebec population by mobilizing the health and social services sector around prevention and adaptation actions in the face of the climate crisis and health-related environmental risks. Today, 30 organizations representing more than 150,000 people are working towards a common goal: the implementation of a sustainable health system. We would like to thank the Trottier Family Foundation for its support in facilitating our collective efforts to bring about an ecological transformation of the health and social services network.” Thomas Bastien, Executive Director of the Association pour la Santé Publique du Québec (ASPQ)
“The Foundation of Greater Montreal is a privileged observer of the impacts of territorial inequities on the health and quality of life of marginalized populations. Neighbourhoods where poverty and exclusion are most prevalent, and where many immigrants or racialized people reside are also those where natural spaces are least accessible. They also have the highest levels of air pollution, the most food deserts, and the most severe effects of climate change. We are proud to collaborate with the Trottier Family Foundation, Vivre en Ville and other partners to better understand the relationship between the environment, health and poverty, to better address systemic inequalities in our community.” Karel Mayrand, President and CEO of the Foundation of Greater Montreal (FGM)
For more information:
Noémie Laurendeau
COPTICOM, Strategies and Public Relations
438-826-5816