NORTH AMERICAN CLIMATE POLICY FORUM
Exploring Cooperation between Canada, the U.S. and México
June 22-23, 2016
University of Ottawa
Ottawa, Canada
Sustainable Prosperity, the University of Ottawa, the Nicholas Institute for Environment Policy Solutions at Duke University, and the Duke University Energy Initiative have partnered to form a new North American Climate Policy Forum. The inaugural event for the Forum took place on June 22-23, 2016 at the University of Ottawa and brought together some of the world's pre-eminent thinkers with senior Canadian, American and Mexican climate policy officials for a two-day dialogue on climate policy design, low carbon technology and innovation policy. The purpose of the inaugural event was to refine our understanding of options to link climate policy across North America, while exploring the possibility of shifting towards an integrated North American low carbon economy.
A pre-conference paper, Overview of the North American Climate Policy Landscape at the National and Subnational Levels, has been prepared that seeks to frame the current policy context as a base of discussion for all participants in the Forum. The first section of this paper reviews each country’s GHG reduction commitments and describes the international policy linkage opportunities established under the Paris Agreement. The second section gives an overview of the current national policy landscapes, and the third section outlines existing policy linkages between national and subnational jurisdictions in North America. Download the paper here. A summary paper and the resulting research agenda will be produced later this summer.
PRESENTATIONS
Click hyperlinked presentations to view in a new window.
Day 1: Current Initiatives and Clean Innovation Policy
Prominent academics gave an overview of the current landscape of carbon pricing initiatives across North America, including overviews of the carbon tax policies in BC and Alberta, the US Clean Power Plan, the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) in the Northeast US, and the California-Quebec linked cap-and-trade systems. The panelists addressed key elements of these existing programs and spoke about the potential of these systems to grow into a broader North American carbon pricing framework. The session immediately after this one, focused on the role of public policy in accelerating clean innovation and leveraging private sector participation.
The Paris Agreement Pledges: Canada, United States and México
LOUISE MÉTIVIER (Chief Negotiator for Climate Change, Environment and Climate Change Canada)
TRIGG TALLEY (US Deputy Special Envoy for Climate Change)
The Honourable AGUSTIN GARCÍA-LÓPEZ LOAEZA (Ambassador of Mexico to Canada)
Keynote Address II: International Emissions Trading and Paris Implementation
DIRK FORRISTER, President and CEO, International Emissions Trading Association (IETA)
Current Regional and Subnational Initiatives
Canada / Linked Initiatives
U.S. Initiatives
KATHRYN ZYLA (Deputy Director, Georgetown Climate Center, Georgetown University) - RGGI and the Prospects for Expansion
Keynote Address III: Prospects for Tri-Lateral Climate Policy
DUNCAN WOOD, Director, Mexico Institute, The Wilson Center
Clean Innovation Policy I: Exploring Policy Tools
BRENDAN HALEY (Post-Doctoral Research Associate, Sustainable Prosperity)
Clean Innovation Policy II: Applying Policy Tools to Accelerate Clean Tech / Clean Innovation
CHRIS BOIVIN (Vice-President, Investments, Sustainable Development Technology Canada)
SANJIV MALHOTRA (Director, Clean Energy Investment Center, U.S. Department of Energy)
ANNE WADDELL (Vice President, Public Affairs, BioAmber Inc.)
Day 2: Integrating Carbon Policy with Fiscal Reform and National Energy Policy Goals
Following the first day’s overview and discussions on existing and potential North America climate policy, the second day dealt with the challenges and opportunities to integrate climate change policy with fiscal reform and energy policy goals. The participants on the fiscal reform’s panel addressed the potential for coordinated fiscal policy measures to drive improved performance of climate policies, and discussed the challenges of effective fiscal policy coordination, given existing provincial and state carbon pricing programs. Panelists in the last session talked about the opportunity for an integrated North American climate policy to support broader energy policy goals across the continent, as well as highlighted the different national energy contexts and main challenges surrounding energy policy and regulation.
Integration of Carbon Pricing with Fiscal Reform
GEORGE FRAMPTON (Co-Founder, Partnership for Responsible Growth)
DON DRUMMOND (Canada’s Ecofiscal Commission & Queen’s University; Former Senior VP and Chief Economist, TD Bank, Former Associate Deputy Minister, Finance Canada)
Integration of Climate Policy with Broader National Energy Policy Goals
