Provincial/territorial premiers gathering for this week’s climate summit in Quebec City can look to their host province for an example of a cap and trade system that covers 85% of its greenhouse gas emissions, combines with California to form North America’s biggest carbon market, and has survived two changes in government.
So says Inside North America’s Largest Carbon Market: Top Lessons from the Front Lines of Quebec’s Fight Against Carbon Pollution, a report released this morning by Clean Energy Canada.
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“Carbon pricing is rapidly becoming the new normal,” said Executive Director Merran Smith. “It’s something that jurisdictions around the world are looking to do, and the ones who have done it are looking to improve on it.”
The report, like its companion volume that traces the success of British Columbia’s carbon tax, is based on “confidential and candid” interviews with 10 key architects of the Quebec system, including ex-premier Jean Charest. “All eyes are on the system this week,” Clean Energy Canada notes, “as Quebec hosts a climate summit in Quebec City, and as reports suggest Ontario may soon be joining the system.”
