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VICTORIA – B.C. is among eight western provinces and states that have established a regional goal to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to 15 per cent below 2005 levels by 2020, a target that will lay the foundation for a common cap and trade system, Premier Gordon Campbell announced today.
“I want to commend all Western
Climate Initiative partners for establishing this common goal to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions and for their commitment to develop a multi-sector
mechanism to help meet this regional target as well as individual targets,”
said Campbell. “British Columbia committed in February to creating a single,
common standard for measuring greenhouse gas emissions and for registering and
trading carbon offsets that reflects true market value. This continental
approach will reduce greenhouse gas emissions across the region and stimulate
innovation and job creation.”
Western Climate Initiative (WCI)
members – British Columbia, Arizona, California, New Mexico, Oregon,
Washington, Utah and Manitoba – agreed to the target after a meeting in
Vancouver earlier this month. The
WCI will use its new regional goal in designing a regional, market-based,
multi-sector mechanism, such as a load-based cap and trade program, by August
2008.
Campbell noted the regional goal reflects the combined impact of emission-related targets B.C. and other members have set, and does not supersede those individual targets. Members will use the regional goal in assessing requests from other jurisdictions to join the WCI.
“Membership in the WCI means having an aggressive GHG target for your jurisdiction, adopting California tailpipe standards, participating in a cross-border GHG registry, and working together on a regional cap and trade system to help meet our targets,” said Campbell. “The more partners we unite now in meeting these objectives, the better off our countries and world will be in decades to come. I am urging other Canadian provinces to participate in this initiative to create a single, continental market for carbon trading.”
At the recent Council of Federation meeting in New Brunswick, the leaders of 12 of 13 provinces and territories agreed to work toward the objective of implementing California tailpipe emissions standards. B.C., Ontario, Quebec and Manitoba also committed to a cap and trade system.
Currently, four other U.S.
states (Colorado, Kansas, Nevada and Wyoming), three other Canadian provinces
(Ontario, Quebec and Saskatchewan) and one Mexican state (Sonora) are
participating as observers of the WCI’s deliberations. Some of these entities,
as well as others, may seek to join the WCI as full members in the future.
B.C. announced its GHG reduction
target of 33 per cent below current levels by 2020, which will place emissions
10 per cent below 1990 levels, in February. Since then, the Province has signed
memorandums of understanding with California and Washington State on climate
change and Pacific Ocean conservation and joined the Climate Registry, a
cross-border GHG registry launched in June with 34 states, and two provincial
and three tribal members. The registry – North America’s largest co-operative
effort on climate change, representing
over 70 per cent of the U.S. population – is seen as a critical first step in developing robust programs
to reduce emissions across the U.S. and North America.
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A copy of the GHG Reduction Goal Statement is available at:
www.westernclimateinitiative.org/ewebeditpro/items/O104F13006.pdf
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Media Relations Ministry of Environment 250 953-4577 |
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