ICF Vice President Skip Willis will discuss the regulatory framework for greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions in Canada and present the key findings of ICF's new Canadian Carbon Market Analysis Report. This is the first report of its kind that has been produced in the Canadian market. Canada faces a unique set of challenges when it comes to meeting the challenge of climate change. The Canadian economy has out performed all of the other G7 countries over the past several years, and Canada has had consistent budget surpluses for more than 15 years.

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Much of this economic prosperity is driven by the natural resource base of the Canadian economy and particularly the oil sands. The oil sands have the second largest recoverable deposit of oil in the world after Saudi Arabia. Despite the rhetoric of reducing the oil dependency of the North American economy, the continuing development of the oil sands is key to energy security in the foreseeable future. From an environmental perspective, oil sands production is two to three times more carbon intensive than conventional production. The Canadian government is also keen to see investment in carbon abatement stay in Canada to the extent possible. As a result, it has limited Canadian access to international credits for compliance purposes and has focused on the development of a robust domestic offsets market as the primary compliance option. Consequently future carbon market prices in the domestic Canadian market are of significant interest to companies with Canadian operations in the capped sectors.

Mr. Willis helps a broad range of private sector clients develop and implement strategic solutions to the challenges presented by global warming. Based in Toronto, he has consulted with most of the major industrial emitters in Canada and has used his analytical skills to help develop effective responses to environmental issues. He has also been consulted regularly by government on the implications of various policy options and the design of emissions trading systems. He has worked with a cross-section of Canadian business to interact with the government in the policy development process.

Mr. Willis has more than 25 years of consulting experience in strategic planning, issues management, regulatory affairs, strategic communications, and international market development. He has worked at the international level as an industry advisor to the Canadian delegation to the Montreal Protocol starting in 1992. He has been widely quoted in the press on issues relating to climate change, and he is regularly called upon to speak at conferences both domestically and internationally.

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