Together, the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, the Midwest Greenhouse Gas Reduction Accord, and the Western Climate Initiative involve 23 U.S. states and 4 Canadian provinces as members.  Additional U.S. states, Mexican states, and Canadian provinces participate as official observers to these initiatives.

U.S. states participating in the three regional initiatives encompass about half of the U.S. population and GDP and ⅓ of all U.S. GHG emissions.  Canadian provinces participating in the three regional initiatives account for more than ¾ of the Canadian population and GDP and nearly ½ of Canadian GHG emissions. 

The purpose of the meeting was to:

• Share information on the status and future plans of each regional initiative.
• Identify and discuss issues on which inter-regional collaboration and information sharing may be beneficial to the ongoing program development activities of each regional group.
• Discuss the current status of US federal legislation, focusing on issues that have the most relevance to states and the regional initiatives.
• Explore the role of states and the regional initiatives under emerging federal programs (legislative and regulatory).

State and Provincial representatives participating in the meeting emphasized the importance of federal action and the critical role of states and provinces in the development and implementation of national programs.