Exploring opportunities for cooperation on climate change in North America is timely. The political context is right for assessing the region vis-à-vis the domestic and the multilateral options.

American public opinion is more willing than ever to bear the cost of making the transition towards a low-carbon economy, even in spite of the economic recession. A renewed US leadership under President Obama has also enhanced prospects for action globally and domestically, together with a majority of US Congressional Democrats who favor the establishment of a cap and trade system.

Mexico and Canada should also be concerned with the impact, both in terms of trade and competition, on the North American economy from climate policy action in the United States, particularly given the high levels of economic integration and energy interdependence that currently exist between the three countries. President Felipe Calderón has become a leading voice at the multilateral level and has expressed interest in exploring avenues for fostering a US-Mexico cooperative agenda on climate change.

The transition towards a low-carbon economy that effectively reduces greenhouse gas emissions will entail profound structural/industrial changes, with significant competitive and distributional consequences for the regional and the world economy and which need to be assessed. The objectives of the seminar, Towards a North American Carbon Market (19 June 2009, Washington, DC), was to assess the potential for a coordinated approached to climate policies in North American and to offer policy recommendations to the leaders of the three countries in North America.

The seminar is a joint initiative of the Center for Dialogue and Analysis on North America-Tecnológico de Monterrey-CCM, the North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation & the CEC Joint Public Advisory Committee, the Instituto Nacional de Ecología, the Mario Molina Center and the Peterson Institute for International Economics, and ClimateWorks.

Update:

In Denver, Colorado, the Center for Dialogue and Analysis on North America
(CEDAN), the Peterson Institute for International Economics, the National Institute for the Ecology and the Mario Molina Center submitted a proposal at the annual meeting of the Ministers for the Environment of North America to start building an integrated North American approach to climate change.

The recommendations, which were discussed June 19th, in Washington DC
by a group of academic, governmental and non-governmental experts of the three
countries included:

• Asking the North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation to become a clearinghouse of information to assist governments in the development of systems of information and knowledge that are comparable and consistent across the region, including robust GHG emission inventories and climate change scenarios and maps for vulnerability;
• Ensuring that domestic emissions cap and trade systems and other climate change policies adopted do not affect trade and investment flows and the overall competitiveness of North America.
• Harmonizing emission standards across the region;
• Reaching an agreement to avoid carbon leakage in the region, especially in the electricity and transportation sectors;
• Accelerating the deployment of cleaner and energy efficient technologies, including carbon capture and storage, low-carbon fuels and hybrid vehicles;
• Introducing avoided deforestation and avoided ecosystems degradation in carbon offsets, in order to help reduce both the costs of compliance of high carbon intensive industries in North America and poverty, particularly in Mexico;
• Devising strategies and policy measures to keep jobs and fostering green jobs in the region, as part of a short term low-carbon recovery strategy
• Review NAFTA´s Chapter 11 regulations and assess the risks for litigation under Chapter 11 by the new class of climate change policies across the region
• Mobilizing human and financial resources across the region to enhance institutional capacity for policy development, project implementation and compliance

View the agenda here: http://www.portalfornorthamerica.org/events/2009/06/towards-north-american-carbon-market.

For more information, please contact the Center for Dialogue and Analysis on North America-Tecnológico de Monterrey-CCM here: http://www.ccm.itesm.mx/cedan/.

Related:

• Download: Regionalization and Environmental Governance in North America: Policy Challenges for the New Administration(s)
• In the News: Carbon tariffs a threat to trade, Canada says
• In the News: What's hot, green and Mexican?
• Past PNA Feature: Combating Climate Change through Energy Exploration and Cap-and-Trade
• Past PNA Feature: Mexico to Unveil New Climate Initiatives
• Research: Study Reveals Potential to Amass More Carbon in Eastern North American Forests
• Watch: Hudson Report: Energy and the Environment
• Please find attached below a complete version of the proposal and of the seminar participants.

(Image credit: Flickr user Hometown Invasion Tour)