Western Climate Initiative Goes International
Utah, Manitoba and British Columbia recently joined the five charter members (Oregon, Washington, California, Arizona and New Mexico) of the Western Climate Initiative, a now-international agreement to cut greenhouse gas emissions to 15 percent below 2005 levels by 2020.
Initiative members will continue to pursue their own states' greenhouse gas goals also, which may be more stringent than the WCI's collective goal. The regional plan calls for each WCI partner to update the others on its emissions inventories every two years. It also details the criteria for new partners to join the group, which turn on whether the new entrant is undertaking efforts comparable to the current partners' to address climate change.
By August 2008, the WCI also expects to have designed the framework for a cap-and-trade market for emissions credits on carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. In such a market-based system, businesses that can reduce emissions more cheaply and more significantly could sell their emissions allowances to companies that are less efficient at, or are unable to cut, emissions. In theory, this market-centered system leads to the most cost-effective reductions.
Notably, the Republican governors of California and Utah are strong supporters of the plan. The next step? Several other states and provinces are considering joining, including the state of Sonora in Mexico.
Scientists suggest that the world by 2050 needs to reduce carbon emissions by a whopping 50 percent to 85 percent from current levels to stave off the dangers from climate change.
Posted by David J. Petersen, partner practicing in the Sustainability and Real Estate & Land Use Practice Groups.
