This issue of the Carbon & Climate Law Review (CCLR) provides an up-to-date analysis of recent developments in greenhouse gas regulation and climate policies in Canada and the United States, identifying new opportunities for transatlantic cooperation. Michael Mehling, president of the Ecologic Institute in Washington, D.C., edited this issue of the CCLR.

A former pioneer of ambitious and innovative environmental policies, the United States has gained prominence as the sole remaining industrialized nation that has not ratified the Kyoto Protocol, while Canada has seen its climate policy become hostage to internal strife between the ruling party and the opposition, threatening an open violation of its international reduction commitments. It should not surprise, then, that North America has frequently been described as a laggard on climate change.

But as so often, simplified perceptions fail to give an accurate reflection of complex political and legal realities. Contributions to this special issue of the Carbon & Climate Law Review draw a more optimistic picture of North American climate policy: a picture of change and transition, as vibrant initiatives emerge on a number of levels – regional and local, public and private – and create new opportunities for transatlantic cooperation. In a profile section created specifically for this issue, moreover, several influential commentators and decision makers from both sides of the Atlantic offer their views on pending challenges and opportunities.