Untangling a Complex Web - Canada’s Next Carbon Chapter meets NYC’s Most Famous Resident

Last week, possibly delirious from a redeye flight from Vancouver to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City, I was sitting down at a table at a conference centre where IETA’s North American Climate Summit was taking place.

As I was preparing my opening for the panel I was moderating the next day entitled Canada’s Next Carbon Chapter, I thought about where we were, and the unique inspiration that New York City draws in (at least, for me). So I slowly started to draw parallels between Canada’s history with carbon markets, and the city’s most famous resident’s film trajectory - not Taylor Swift, not Robert De Niro…but Spider-Man. Hear me out - I’m going somewhere with this.

It’s 2002. Spider-Man starring Tobey Maguire swings into theatres, and is revolutionary. Flip the calendar a few pages forward and in 2003 Alberta introduces its foundational legislation for mandatory GHG reporting.

Five years later, in 2007, Spider-Man 3 is released. The end of Tobey Maguire’s era, and the start of a new one. Alberta puts its first compliance price into place for industrial carbon emissions - the first carbon price in North America.

Fast forward close to a decade in 2016 and Tom Holland takes on the mantle of Spider-Man in a new approach, where the character is integrated with a host of others, like Iron Man, into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In Canada, federal, provincial, and territorial governments adopt the Pan-Canadian Framework on Climate Change. A price on carbon is set in a unique approach - every province and territory can design its own system within certain parameters, and if not, a federal backstop is installed.

Which brings us to today, 2026: Tom Holland is the first live-action Spider-Man actor to have a fourth movie in the franchise, Brand New Day, and not only is it an unparalleled success - the highest grossing movie of all time in North America - it’s also an apt name.

This year, Canada initiated a set of moves to enhance carbon market effectiveness in tandem with a focus on international trade and investment.

In parallel, IETA published a Vision Paper I'm proud to have contributed to: Canada’s Carbon Market Opportunity: A Vision for Climate Competitiveness & Growth (link in comments), illustrating how Canada can create alignment with the international carbon market via Article 6 of the Paris Agreement. It just so happens that that same week, ECCC announced its intention to develop a framework for Article 6 (article in comments). Definitely feels like a Brand New Day for carbon markets in Canada.

As to the future? Destin Daniel Cretton, director of Spider-Man: Brand New Day, has signed a multi-picture deal with Sony, who owns the rights to Spider-Man in film, but it’s yet to be determined what that really will look like. Next steps for Canada - blurry as well. Details to be worked out in both cases. Pens to paper.

I’ll be waiting - ready to help Canada spin into its next web of possibilities.