Climate Change > National and Regional Leadership

National and Regional Leadership

Ecology works on a number of bilateral, regional, and national partnerships to reduce GHG emissions and adapt to and prepare for climate change impacts.

British Columbia – Washington Climate Action Collaboration:

• Carbon Neutral Government, Washington – British Columbia Joint Action Plan, February 2, 2010 (PDF)
• Awareness and Outreach for Coastal Impacts of Climate Change, Washington – British Columbia Joint Action Plan, February 2, 2010 (PDF)
• Coastal Climate Change Adaptation, Washington – British Columbia Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), June 20, 2008 (PDF)
  As part of our work under this MOU, British Columbia and Washington have worked together on:
  • The Washington King Tides photo initiative, and
  • The British Columbia King Tides photo initiative
• Pacific Coast Collaboration to Protect Our Shared Climate and Ocean, Washington – British Columbia Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), June 8, 2007 (PDF)

Watch the Feb. 2, 2011 agreement signing video.

Regional Collaboration on Climate Action:

• The Pacific Coast Collaborative Agreement (June 30, 2008). The leaders of Alaska, British Columbia, California, Oregon and Washington signed the Pacific Coast Collaborative Agreement in 2008 – which covers energy, transportation, climate change, and ocean issues.
• The West Coast Governor’s Agreement on Ocean Health (September 18, 2006). The Governors of California, Oregon, and Washington announced the West Coast Governors’ Agreement on Ocean Health in 2006. The Agreement launched a new and proactive regional collaboration to protect and manage ocean resources along the West Coast.
• In 2009, the Western Governors’ Association launched their Initiative on Climate Change and Adaptation. The Western Governors have adopted resolutions that specifically speak to Regional and National Policies Regarding Global Climate Change and Supporting the Integration of Climate Change Adaptation Science in the West. The Western Governors also called for the formation of a Climate Adaptation Work Group whose purpose is to 1) determine appropriate uses of climate adaptation modeling in informing natural resource and economic infrastructure planning and policies, and 2) to identify and fill existing gaps in climate adaptation efforts within WGA.

Western Climate Initiative (WCI)

• The WCI began when the Governors of Arizona, California, New Mexico, Oregon, and Washington signed the 2007 Governors' Agreement directing their respective states to develop a regional target for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, participate in a multi-state registry to track and manage greenhouse gas emissions in the region, and develop a market-based program to reach the target. Montana, Utah and the provinces of British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec have since joined. See the WCI partners list.
• The Western Climate Initiative is one of three regional initiatives in the U.S. that is working to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) is the first mandatory, market-based effort in the United States to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Ten Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic states have capped and will reduce CO2 emissions from the power sector 10% by 2018. In the Mid-West, the states of Iowa, Illinois, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin as well as the Province of Manitoba have signed the Midwestern Greenhouse Gas Reduction Accord and released recommendations for a regional carbon market along the lines of that done by WCI.