Remarks to the Canadian-American Business Council

Scott Vaughan's 2013 remarks to the Canadian-American Business Council discuss the convergence of climate regulatory approaches between Canada and the U.S., the economic implications of various oil and gas emission targets in Canada, and the challenges Canada faces in meeting its 2020 emissions reduction target.

• Canada and the United States have both adopted regulatory approaches as the primary basis for climate mitigation, with both federal governments allowing subnational entities (provinces and states) the flexibility to implement their own mitigation measures.
• Canada's federal approach to reducing greenhouse gas emissions involves setting performance ceilings through sector-specific regulations, which have already been introduced for coal-fired electricity plants, heavy trucks, and automobiles and light trucks.
• Canadian provinces employ diverse climate policies: British Columbia uses a carbon tax of $30 a tonne; Quebec utilizes a cap-and-trade system; and Alberta uses a regulatory approach allowing facilities to lower emissions, purchase reductions, buy offsets, or pay into a technology investment fund.
• The Alberta government proposed a '40/40' target in April 2013, consisting of a 40 per cent emission-intensity improvement target with a price ceiling of $40 per tonne of CO2 equivalent, while continuing to differentiate between unconventional energy sources like oil sands and conventional sources.
• Economic modeling by IISD indicates that a federal oil and gas target of 20/20 would cost $350 million annually ($17 per tonne), whereas a 40/40 target would cost $1.3 billion per year ($33 per tonne).
• Canada is unlikely to meet its 2020 target of a 17 per cent emissions reduction due to shifting federal approaches and the absence of oil and gas regulations, coinciding with expected increases in energy sector emissions and oil sands production.
• Subnational coalitions are forming to harmonize climate strategies, such as the Pacific Coast Collaborative involving British Columbia, Washington State, Oregon, and California, and ongoing discussions between New England governors and eastern Canadian premiers.

APA

Vaughan, S. (2013). Remarks to the Canadian-American Business Council. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/remarks_can_us_business_council.pdf

Chicago

Vaughan, Scott. Remarks to the Canadian-American Business Council. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2013. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/remarks_can_us_business_council.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Vaughan |first1=Scott |title=Remarks to the Canadian-American Business Council |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=4 November 2013 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/remarks_can_us_business_council.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{vaughan2013remarks, author = {Vaughan, Scott}, title = {{Remarks to the Canadian-American Business Council}}, publisher = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2013}, month = nov, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/remarks_can_us_business_council.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }