Climate Leaders Summit

Québec and Manitoba, in collaboration with The Climate Group, co-hosted the Climate Leaders Summit in Montréal on December 5 and 6, 2005. The Summit brought together the heads of government of federated states and regions and representatives of major corporations from around the world to present their best greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction initiatives and demonstrate the economic and social benefits associated with these innovative practices.

The Climate Leaders Summit was held simultaneously with the 11^th Conference of Parties (CoP11) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which took place in Montréal from November 28 to December 9, 2005. This major international conference was also the first Meeting of Parties (MoP1) to the Kyoto Protocol. The Kyoto Protocol was ratified by 163 countries and came into effect on February 16, 2005. However, combating climate change requires not only action by UN member nations but also intervention in areas constituting the jurisdiction of federated states. For example, in Canada, energy production, urban transport, municipalities and forestry fall exclusively under provincial and territorial jurisdiction.

Québec and Manitoba have therefore joined to showcase the role of federated states and regions in implementing the Kyoto Protocol. At the close of the Summit, regional governments from all over the world, including the Americas, Europe, Africa and Oceania adopted a common declaration on climate change. They also agreed to meet again in 2008 at the 14^th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change to measure progress in the fight against climate change. In the meantime, the federated states and regional governments will take the message of the Montreal Summit to the next meetings they attend.