EU, US states, Canadian provinces form CO2 trading partnership
Brussels (Platts)--29Oct2007
A coalition of the European Commission, European countries, US states,
Canadian provinces, New Zealand and Norway have formed an International Carbon
Action Partnership to fight global warming, the partners said Monday in
Lisbon.
"ICAP will provide an international forum in which governments and public
authorities adopting mandatory greenhouse gas emissions cap and trade systems
will share experiences and best practices on the design of emissions trading
schemes," said ICAP in a statement. "This cooperation will ensure that the
programs are more compatible and are able to work together as the foundation
of a global carbon market."
The European ICAP partners are the EC, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy,
Netherlands, Portugal and the UK. They are joined by the northeast US Regional
Greenhouse Gas Initiative members--Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey and New
York, and the US-Canadian Western Climate Initiative members--Arizona,
British Columbia, California, Manitoba, New Mexico, Oregon and Washington.
ICAP plans to work on "rigorously and accurately" monitoring, reporting
and verifying emissions, and to determine reliable sources to include in a
globally linked program. It wants to encourage common approaches and
further partners' ability to link together to expand the global carbon
market, helping to prevent leakage.
It wants to create a clear price incentive to innovate, develop and use
clean technologies, and to encourage private investors to chose low carbon
projects and technologies, generating the flow of money needed to support a
shift to a low-carbon future. It also wants to providing flexible compliance
mechanisms that ensure reliable reductions at the fastest pace and lowest
cost.
Those attending the Lisbon meeting to agree the partnership included
Portugal's President Jose Socrates, currently president of the EU Council of
member state governments; EC President Jose Manuel Barroso; New Jersey
Governor Jon Corzine; New York Governor Eliot Spitzer and British Columbia
Premier Gordon Campbell.
UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Governor of California Arnold
Schwarzenegger, Governor of California sent video messages.
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