Greg Selinger, Premier of Manitoba summed it up succinctly: “Climate change is the defining global environmental issue of our time and now is the time for action. We are joining in partnership with Ontario and Québec to build a cap-and-trade system to seize opportunities to transform our economy, powered by renewable energy and the creation of green jobs.”

Premiers of three Canadian provinces: Ontario, Québec and Manitoba signed a new memorandum of understanding (MOU) today at the 2015 Paris Climate Conference, designed to help link the cap and trade programs in the three provinces under the Western Climate Initiative, North America’s largest carbon market.

The MOU on Co-operation in the Area of Climate Change among Ontario, Québec and Manitoba will lead to several other joint initiatives, including:

• harmonizing greenhouse gas tracking and measuring methods
• adapting to climate change impacts
• maintaining momentum toward post-2020 greenhouse gas emission reduction targets
• transitioning to a low-carbon economy
• increasing public awareness
• recognizing the role of the federated states in the fight against climate change
• promoting intergovernmental collaboration in Canada and abroad.

This new MOU builds on builds on an existing MOU signed between Ontario and Québec in 2015  and also the Declaration of the Premiers of Canada, adopted in April 2015 at the Québec Summit on Climate Change. The agreement also follows the Climate Action Statement signed at the Climate Summit of the Americas in Toronto in July 2015.

Ontario, Québec and Manitoba are members of the International Carbon Action Partnership, which was designed to facilitate co-operation among countries, federated states and multinational institutions that have implemented or are planning to implement carbon markets. The three provinces have also signed The Climate Group Compact of States and Regions, which provided the first-ever global report-back on greenhouse gas reduction targets made by federated states and regional governments.

Five Canadian provinces, including Québec, Ontario, Manitoba, Alberta and British Columbia, will now have some form of carbon pricing mechanism, representing 32.2 million Canadians, or 90 per cent of the population.

To read the MOU please click here

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Manning Environmental Law is a Canadian law firm based in Toronto, Ontario. Our practice is focussed on environmental law, energy law and aboriginal law. 

Paul Manning is a certified specialist in environmental law. He has been named as one of Canada’s leading Environmental Lawyers by Who’s Who Legal: Canada and ranked by Lexpert as one of Canada’s Leading Energy Lawyers.

As always, these posts  are provided only as a general guide and are not legal advice. If you do have any issue that requires legal advice please get in touch. Our contact details can be found here