Published in iPolitics (June 27, 2016)
Photo: Julia Kilpatrick, Pembina Institute
President Barack Obama and President Enrique Peña Nieto arrive in Ottawa this week for the North American Leaders’ Summit. They will be discussing shared North American priorities with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and a coordinated and ambitious climate policy should be at the top of their agenda.
On the heels of the Paris Agreement signing in New York, the timing is right for coordinated action, especially now that all three countries are politically aligned in favour of substantive climate policy. President Obama is intent on cementing his climate legacy, President Peña Nieto is overseeing massive reforms to Mexican energy policy, and Prime Minister Trudeau is looking to bolster Canada’s presence on the international stage. The three countries can learn the lesson from other international groupings, such as the European Union, that unified action on climate change can have profound international benefits. Canada, the U.S. and Mexico can’t afford to miss this opportunity.
In the past year, the U.S., Mexico and Canada have all pursued policies to limit emissions. The Obama administration is working to implement the Clean Power Plan, Peña Nieto’s government has passed an energy transition law to promote clean energy development, and the Trudeau government has launched a pan-Canadian climate policy process with the provinces and territories. Moreover, the U.S. and Canada are both preparing to release their long-term emission reductions strategies by the end of 2016. If these plans are strong, they have the potential to signal investors and the international community about the coming transition to a low- carbon economy. Mexico should join in this effort and the three countries should work to make these long-term plans as strong as possible.
Meanwhile, trilateral discussions have been ongoing: Prime Minister Trudeau’s mandate letters to Environment and Climate Change Minister Catherine McKenna, Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr and Foreign Affairs Minister Stéphane Dion ask each minister to help develop an ambitious North American clean energy and environmental agreement. Last February, Canada signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Climate Change and Energy Collaboration with the U.S. and Mexico, demonstrating continued diplomatic commitment.
Opportunities for a meaningful agreement
At Wednesday’s summit, we expect the three leaders to deliver a climate and energy agreement that takes a meaningful step towards trilateral implementation of the Paris Agreement. Three of the major areas of collaboration that should be highlighted in the trilateral agreement are oil and gas methane regulations, clean transportation and carbon pricing.
First: taking concrete steps to reduce oil and gas methane pollution. As three major oil and gas producing countries, the US, Canada, and Mexico can demonstrate leadership by committing to swift regulation of oil and gas methane pollution. Specifically, the three governments should commit to a North American target to reduce emissions of methane, a greenhouse gas that is many times more potent than carbon dioxide and responsible for one quarter of the world’s current warming. Given that there is significant potential in Mexico’s oil and gas sector for cost-effective reductions of methane pollution, Mexico should join the recent pledges from the U.S. and Canada to cut methane emissions from the oil and gas sector by 40 to 45 per cent below 2012 levels by 2025. If all three countries cut their methane emissions by this level, it would reduce worldwide oil and gas methane pollution by close to 10 per cent.
Second: building a trilateral clean transportation plan. The auto sector is highly integrated across North America, so it makes sense for each country to coordinate climate action in this arena. We recommend the three countries develop a strategy that includes harmonization of fuel economy standards and collaboration on the electrification of the transportation sector.
Lastly: the three countries should work to ensure effective carbon pricing systems are in place throughout the continent. Carbon pricing instruments are effective and efficient free market-oriented ways to curb emissions. Building on carbon pricing mechanisms already in place, we encourage each country to prioritize development of national or subnational systems that cover the remaining areas of the North American economy. Whether this is accomplished by scaling existing carbon markets or by introducing new systems, each country should seek to share technical expertise on emissions pricing and should help align pricing instruments where feasible.
Continent ready to move forward
As the cost and consequences of climate change continue to be felt across North America – especially by indigenous and low-income communities – the continent seems ready to shake its past political stagnation on climate change. At the summit this week, the three leaders should leverage this alignment to create a coordinated North American climate strategy.
By establishing an ambitious North American climate agenda, President Obama, President Peña Nieto, and Prime Minister Trudeau could bolster their environmental legacies and help ensure the prosperity of our continent—and our planet—for current and future generations.
The Pembina Institute, World Resources Institute and Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas – along with the Centre for American Progress, Centro Mexicano de Derecho Ambiental, and Canada 2020 – have released a report of recommendations for trilateral climate action in advance of the leaders’ summit.
By: Ed Whittingham, executive director, Pembina Institute, Andrew Steer, CEO, World Resources Institute and Marcela López-Vallejo, associate professor, Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas, (CIDE)
Ed Whittingham was the Executive Director of the Pembina Institute until 2017.
