Quebec Releases Draft Cap And Trade Regulations

On July 6, 2011, Quebec's Ministry of Sustainable Development, Environment and Parks announced that it has published a draft regulation on greenhouse gas (GHG) cap-and-trade based on the Western Climate Initiative (WCI) guidelines, for a 60-day public consultation.

Once the consultation period has expired, the regulation to be adopted will enable Quebec to be ready to set up the carbon market as soon as January 1, 2012. As noted in yesterday's blog entry, in order to synchronize with California, the first year of the program will be transitional. This will allow emitters and market participants to familiarize themselves with how the system works and enable them to transition to their obligations under the GHG cap-and-trade system that will come into force on January 1, 2013. They will be able to register as system users, take part in pilot project auctions and exchange (buy and sell) GHG emission allowances through the market.