Ottawa

‘It does so by establishing a price on carbon’

To this discussion, you can add this speech, Jim Prentice announcing “Canada’s Offset System for Greenhouse Gases” on June 10, 2009.

Today, I am pleased to announce another important building block in our Climate Change plan – designed to help us achieve our targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to generate real emission reduction opportunities across the economy.

We are releasing two draft documents that lay the foundation for the development of a carbon market across Canada.  The first of these documents sets out the rules and requirements to generate offset credits – from the registration of a project to the issuance of the actual credits. Projects that could qualify for offsets span the economy, from farmers using reduced or no-till techniques to store more carbon dioxide in their fields, to wind turbines producing clean electricity using only the wind, to landfill sites that are able to turn captured methane into usable fuel…

The offset system will be a key part of that overall commitment.  It is intended to generate real reductions in greenhouse gas emissions by providing Canadian firms and individuals with the opportunity to reduce or remove emissions from activities and sectors that will not be covered by our planned greenhouse gas regulations.  

It does so by establishing a price for carbon in Canada – something that has never been done before in this country.  And as business leaders, I don’t need to tell you what happens when you put a price on something that used to be free.  Suddenly, your CFO becomes very interested in carbon!

Here is how the Harper government explained its offsets system.

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