Abby L. Harvey
GHG Monitor
4/17/2015
The Canadian province of Ontario announced this week that it has joined the Western Climate Initiative, a cap-and-trade system that administers carbon allowance auctions and tracks and monitors allowances and offset certificates. “Climate change needs to be fought around the globe, and it needs to be fought here in Canada and Ontario. The action we are taking today will help secure a healthier environment, a more competitive economy and a better future for our children and grandchildren,” Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne said in a release this week.
Ontario joins the Canadian provinces of Quebec and British Columbia, along with the state of California, as members of the Western Climate Initiative. Money raised through the program will be reinvested “in a transparent way” into climate change initiatives aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions according to the release. This reinvestment, the release says, will “help businesses remain competitive. Projects may include helping families consume less energy through more energy-efficient appliances or housing, building more public transit to reduce the number of vehicles on the road, and helping factories and businesses reduce greenhouse gas pollution. Through cap and trade, Ontario is building on the progress it has already made, such as closing coal plants and continuing to invest in public transit.”
With Ontario joining the cap and trade system, more than 75 percent of Canadians now live in a province with a carbon price in some form. “We face two critical challenges with climate change. We must reduce greenhouse gas pollution fast enough to avoid a crisis, and in so doing, seize the opportunities of a low-carbon economy. Today we are taking strong action to help us meet both of those challenges,” Ontario Minister of the Environment and Climate Change Glen Murray said in the release.
