Signing of a Joint Statement of Environmental Cooperation Between the U.S. and Morocco-- Ambassador's Remarks

Two weeks ago in Washington our two governments signed a free trade agreement aimed at opening trade between the United States and Morocco. Today our Joint Statement clearly expresses our recognition that together with our efforts to expand bilateral trade, we must work together to better protect the environment. The 2002 Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development helped us to better understand the close connection between economic growth, social development, and environmental protection in our efforts to achieve global sustainable development.

Today’s Joint Statement announces our plans to establish a Working Group to broaden and deepen our cooperation on environmental issues. We look for this Working Group to identify priorities that can be effectively addressed, looking at areas such as:

• the strengthening of infrastructure for enforcing environmental laws,
• the development of economic incentives for environmental protection, and
• the building of improved public awareness on environmental issues.

The Working Group would devise a Plan of Action, which would set out specific project goals, as well as timelines for the achievement of these goals.

This Working Group will in fact be building upon a strong base of environmental cooperation that already exists between the United States and Morocco. For the past few years, our government has worked closely with Morocco on water resources.

Since the negotiations on the Free Trade Agreement began last year, USAID and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have started working with your Ministry to look at ways the U.S. can assist in building the capacity to enforce environmental laws. Cooperation will continue in these areas and in a broad spectrum of other environmental fields.

Along with the activities of the U.S. government, American investors attracted to Morocco as a result of the Free Trade Agreement would likely help focus attention on improving environmental protection and sustainable development. We strongly believe that the best way to tackle the environmental challenges that will accompany economic growth is to promote partnerships between business, community organizations, and government.