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The Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions and the Climate Action Reserve will co-sponsor an official side event at the climate talks in Paris 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. on December 8.
Early visions of a top-down single global carbon market effectively covering all major emitting jurisdictions has given way to a series of national and subnational programs operating either independently or through select linkages. In North America, the Western Climate Initiative provides a foundation to link California’s economy-wide cap-and-trade program with other jurisdictions within the U.S. and across national borders with Quebec (and soon Ontario). Mexico is also exploring carbon market options and the possibility of linkage to U.S. and Canadian markets could factor in policy decisions there. Meanwhile, the landscape within the U.S. and Canada is changing, as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency implements its Clean Power Plan, which allows power plants to trade emissions across state lines; and elections at the national and provincial levels (Alberta) have opened up a new set of considerations for carbon pricing within Canada.
This session will convene policymakers and experts involved in these active and prospective North American carbon markets to discuss the prospects for efficient achievement of collective ambition in reducing emissions at the national, continental and global scales.