Ontario, Quebec sign cap and trade policy deal with Mexico
by Cleantech Canada Staff
Three governments agree to share expertise on climate change legislation
Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne, in Guadalajara, Mexico alongside Ontario’s Minister of the Environment and Climate Change, Glen Murray; Mexican Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources, Rafael Pacchiano Alamán; and Québec Minister of Sustainable Development, David Heurtel. PHOTO: Government of Ontario
GUADALAJARA, Mexico—Ontario and Quebec are tightening climate change ties with Mexico, agreeing to work more closely on carbon tax policy.
Though the agreement has no immediate concrete implications, the trilateral declaration will see the two Canadian provinces and Mexico share their expertise on carbon markets with one another, as well as exchange other opportunities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
“This milestone declaration will boost cooperation between our three regions and drive the reduction of carbon emissions across North America,” Wynne said.
One of the leaders in cap and trade policy, Quebec makes up one half of a carbon market under the Western Climate Initiative alongside the U.S. state of California. Not far behind, Ontario passed a cap and trade bill earlier this year and will join the two other jurisdictions at its first carbon auction next year.
Mexico, meanwhile, is preparing to pilot the concept. The country plans to introduce a smaller-scale carbon market this fall.
The policy deal was signed in Guadalajara, Mexico—one stop on the Ontario premier’s economic mission to Mexico.
