In 2007, Alberta became the first in North America to legislate greenhouse gas reductions on large industrial facilities.  Any facility, including oil sands, that emits more than 100,000 tonnes of greenhouse gases a year is required to reduce emissions intensity by 12 per cent.  Under this legislation, Alberta gave companies three options for meeting the emissions reduction:

1. To make improvements that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions immediately.
2. To buy carbon credits from other sectors that have reduced their emissions in the Alberta-based offset system, or
3. To pay $15 for every tonne over their reduction target into the Climate Change Emissions Management Fund.

For more on Alberta’s climate change regulations, visit: http://environment.alberta.ca/0915.html.

Results from the first 2.5 years of compliance show approximately 17 million tonnes of avoided emissions, and $187 million in the Climate Change Emissions Management Fund.  The Fund is administered by an independent board – the Climate Change Emissions Management Corporation.  In June 2010, the Corporation announced funding for 16 projects totalling $71.4 million.  To learn more about the Climate Change Emissions Management Corporation and recently approved projects, visit: http://ccemc.ca.