Assessment of the operating parameters of the Cap-and-Trade System

The Ministère de l’Environnement, de la Lutte contre les changements climatiques, de la Faune et des Parcs (MELCCFP) and the California Air Resources Board (CARB) are curently assessing possible adjustments that may be made to the Regulation respecting a cap-and-trade system for greenhouse gas emission allowances (Regulation) and, consequently, to the operation of the carbon market in the coming year.

The objective of the approach is to ensure that the Cap-and-Trade System remains an effective tool that will contribute to achieving the greenhouse gas emissions reduction target by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2050. A similar process is also underway in California, Québec’s partner in the Western Climate Initiative carbon market. The two governments will work together since their carbon markets are linked.

During the summer and fall of 2023, the Ministry intends to hold discussions with stakeholders that could lead to a proposed regulatory amendment in 2024.

Topics that will be addressed

Discussions will focus on these main themes common to both jurisdiction:

• Annual emission allowance caps in a context of carbon neutrality by 2050 and saved and accumulated emission allowances;
• Market control mechanism;
• Offsets, carbon sequestration and new green energies in a market context.

Quebec will also address these specific elements:

• Publication of market data;
• Reporting GHG transfers between facilities;
• Modification of the global warming potentials (GWP);
• Duration of compliance periods and possibility of adding emission allowances surrender as part of partial compliance.

If you have any questions or comments, please contact us at registraireqc-spede@environnement.gouv.qc.ca.

Upcoming activities

September 2024:

Publication of a draft regulation or other legislative instrument

Year 2025:

Enactment of regulations or other legislative instruments

Past activities

December 5, 2023:

The MELCCFP held a webcast to receive comments from the public and the entities registered with the C&T System on the following topics:

• GHG storage;
• New green energies.

Documents:

• Presentation document(PDF,1.1 MB)
• Recording of the Webcast (French)
• Comments received(French, PDF, 907 KB)

November 16, 2023:

The MELCCFP and the CARB held a joint webcast to receive comments from the public and the entities registered with the C&T System on the following topics:

• Emission allowance caps;
• Results from modeling efforts under different allowance budget scenarios;
• Market control mechanism.

Documents:

• Presentation document (PDF, 2.7 MB)
• Recording of the Webcast (French)
• Comments received(French, PDF, 753 KB)

October 25, 2023:

The MELCCFP held a webcast to receive comments from the public and the entities registered with the C&T System on the following topics:

• Limit on the use of offset credits for compliance;
• The role of offset credits for the post-2030 period in the context of carbon neutrality for 2050.

Documents:

• Presentation document (PDF, 1.6 MB)
• Recording of the Webcast (French)
• Comments received (French, PDF, 1.3 MB)

September 27, 2023:

The MELCCFP held a webcast to receive comments from the public and the entities registered with the C&T System on the following topics:

• Publication of market data;
• Duration of compliance periods and the possibility of adding emission allowances surrender as part of partial compliance;
• Modification of the global warming potentials (GWP).

Documents:

• Presentation document (PDF,2.1 MB)
• Recording of the Webcast (French)
• Comments received (French, PDF, 726 KB)

June 14, 2023:

The CARB and the MELCCFP held a Webcast to inform the public and entities registered with the Cap-and-Trade System of the elements that will be addressed and the timeline for completion of the assessment of their Cap-and-Trade System’s operating parameters.

Documents:

• Kick-off Webcast – Presentation document (PDF, 1.7 MB)
• Recording of the Webcast (French)