Richmond, BC British Columbia has signed on to the newly-formed International Carbon Action Partnership, an intern…
Richmond, BC British Columbia has signed on to the newly-formed International Carbon Action Partnership, an international forum of governments and public authorities that are engaged in the process of designing or implementing carbon markets. BC Premier Gordon Campbell was the sole Canadian representative at the meeting in Lisbon, Portugal, to announce the formation of the group, notes the Richmond Review. Other governments signing on included the European Commission and many its member countries, New Zealand, and the US states of New York, New Jersey, Maine, Maryland and California.
“British Columbia is leading again,” the Review quotes BC Energy Minister Richard Neufeld as saying. “We think there are some opportunities in leading.” BC Environment Minister Barry Penner noted that his Ottawa counterpart John Baird has encouraged BC’s international efforts, with the western US states and beyond. Prime Minister Stephen Harper, in his Oct. 15 throne speech, has set a target of 20% emission reduction by the year 2020, and also committed Canada to a carbon trading system.
ICAP hopes that the cooperation will allow them to standardize the measurement and trade in carbon emissions. Its October 29 declaration states “National and regional carbon markets offer significant potential for international climate policy. Future linking of emissions trading systems may provide emissions reductions at lower cost, and accelerate the scale of innovation.”
The declaration goes on to say “ICAP aims to support the United Nations process on climate change by facilitating working relationships among governments and public authorities engaged in developing and implementing programs to combat climate change.”
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