Climate Change Bulletin - Provincial and Federal Legislative & Policy Initiatives: Selected Updates

1. Introduction

As previously noted in our initial Climate Change Bulletin dated August 15, 2008 and subsequent updates, concerns over global climate change have sparked a series of legislative and policy responses on the provincial, federal, regional, and international levels. Governments have invoked a number of different policy tools to respond and adapt to these concerns. This bulletin provides a brief update on current legislative and policy initiatives in selected jurisdictions. To provide a global context, the bulletin begins with a brief discussion of recent international initiatives such as the Copenhagen Accord. We also review recent developments in climate change-related legislation in the United States and B.C. For a more detailed overview of international policy as well as other regional and provincial initiatives leading up to these developments, please see our initial Climate Change Bulletin.