California Air Resources Board

We, the Government of California, the Government of New Zealand and the Gouvernement du Québec hereby:

• Recognizethe urgent need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in accordance with the latest findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the importance of adapting to climate impacts;
• Affirm our intention to support the full implementation of the Paris Agreement;
• State our common intent of transitioning toward net-zero greenhouse gas emissions while creating new, quality jobs in low- or zero-emission sectors and facilitating a just transition for people impacted by the shift towards a carbon neutral economy;
• Affirmthat cooperation between governments in a coherent and integrated manner facilitates the spread of best practices and encourages the development of innovative and effective solutions for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to the impacts of climate change;
• Understand the importance of carbon pricingand the reform and phase out of environmentally harmful subsidies, as efficient and critical tools for reducing greenhouse gas emissions at the scale necessary to limit the global average temperature increase to 1.5°C.

Therefore, we state our intention to:

• Strengthen our partnership in the fight against climate change by sharing information, experiences, and best practices on the implementation of our respective strategies, policies and programs in this area, including, inter alia, the design of cap-and-trade systems for greenhouse gas emissions, measurement, reporting and verification systems, sustainable mobility, forestry, agriculture, and aligning incentives and investments to support and bolster climate action.  
• Foster research, development, deployment, and exchange of clean technologies including in renewable energy, energy efficiency, energy storage, agriculture, and zero-emission transportation;
• Promote environmental integrity of carbon pricing instruments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions worldwide; and
• Explore opportunities for potential future alignment of our respective cap-and-trade programs through focused information sharing and discussions related to cap setting, scope, auctions, allocation, market rules, and other key program design features.

This Joint Declaration is signed in six copies, in English, and French.

for the Government of California

Liane M. Randolph
Chair of the California Air Resources Board

for the Government of New Zealand

James Shaw
Climate Change Minister

for the Government du Québec

Benoit Charette
Minister of the Environment and the Fight against Climate Change