| Fact Sheet Office of the Spokesman Washington, DC June 7, 2001 Signing of Expanded Central American-United States Joint AccordOn December 10, 1994, the United States and Central American Heads of Government signed the Central American-United States of America Joint Accord (CONCAUSA) on the margins of the Miami Summit of the Americas. CONCAUSA covered cooperation in four major areas under an action plan: conservation of biodiversity, sound use of energy, environmental legislation, and sustainable economic development. The Joint Accord made the United States the first extra-regional partner in the already-existing Central American Alliance for Sustainable Development (ALIDES). Since 1994, CONCAUSA has been a model framework for achieving joint United States-Central American economic and social development goals in the region, as well as environmental initiatives. Achievements include: actions to consolidate the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor, creation of the first marine-coastal protected areas in Central America, the enactment in all seven Central American countries of new national environmental laws, the promotion of marketing of environmentally friendly products and eco-labeling, and the establishment of thirteen renewable energy projects under the Joint Implementation program of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. On May 15, 2000, the parties met in Panama and reviewed progress under the CONCAUSA Action Plan. Given the progress in raising Central American environmental standards and management of environmental issues and the opening of markets to trade and investment, the parties decided to expand the CONCAUSA Action Plan by adding climate change and disaster preparedness as two new areas of cooperation. The signing of an expanded and renewed CONCAUSA Declaration on June 7, 2001, in Washington, D.C., demonstrates United States support to the Central American region, strengthens United States/Central American relations, and supports the sustainable development of Central America through increased competitiveness in global markets and improved environmental management. It also reiterates the Administration’s support for Central America’s economic integration, trade liberalization, and other economic, social, and environmental objectives. The expanded CONCAUSA now includes both disaster preparedness and climate change. It calls for new approaches such as intensified cooperative efforts to address climate change through scientific research, estimating and monitoring greenhouse gases, investing in forestry conservation, enhancing energy efficiency, utilizing new environmental technologies, enhancing capacity to adapt to climate change, and cooperating to better understand its regional impact, and pushes for continued progress on the other CONCAUSA issues as well. |
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