A measure of continental cooperation

Victor Shantora, CEC Acting Executive Director

When the Council of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) meets in Washington, DC, this month for its tenth regular session, we can look forward to demonstrating once again how international cooperation is moving North America along the path to sustainable development.

When the environment ministers of Canada, Mexico and the United States sit down together, in Council, the agenda items before them often represent the culmination of months, sometimes years, of collaboration on the part of scientists, environmentalists, citizens, government and nongovernmental organizations from each country. And, in most cases, these months of effort are mere stepping-stones to ongoing collective efforts to protect and enhance our environment.

Among the many items for consideration this year, one in particular represents the best of what the CEC can accomplish in its role as a center for information and analysis, a catalyst for regional cooperation, and a forum for public dialogue and participation.

The Strategic Plan for North American Cooperation in the Conservation of Biodiversity represents a landmark for environmental collaboration between Canada, Mexico and the United States. Once approved, the strategy—the product of years of dialogue and public participation—will chart a continental path toward the conservation and sustainable use of our shared biodiversity.

The resulting collaboration between scientists, governments and nongovernmental organizations will, we expect, foster new scientific and technical networks to aid conservation initiatives. In fact, the vast challenge of protecting biodiversity in our continent can only be realized through such extensive cooperation. And it is only with the power of many partners that we can hope to reduce and mitigate the threats faced by North America’s shared species and ecosystems.

And yet, as significant an achievement as this new strategy may represent, it is but the latest milestone in the CEC’s progress since the NAFTA partners joined forces in 1994 to support the protection and enhancement of our shared environment.

Inside this edition of Trio is a timeline that represents just some of the milestones we’ve passed on the path to sustainable development in North America.

Protecting birds and their habitat, tracking hazardous wastes across borders, encouraging green markets and sustainable trade practices, taking stock of industrial pollution, eliminating the most dangerous chemicals from our environment and assessing the environmental effects of free trade in North America: these are just some of the initiatives the CEC has undertaken.

Along the way, it is worth noting, North America has emerged as a global leader. The CEC’s Sound Management of Chemicals program, and our North American Regional Action Plans to eliminate persistent toxic chemicals, put us ahead of the pack in meeting the obligations under the Stockholm Convention.

Over the past year we’ve made significant progress toward the development and selection of children’s health and the environment indicators in North America. The development of such indicators is a fulfillment of commitments made at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002.

Finally, it should be noted that our long and rigorous examination of the environmental effects of freer trade has contributed to the development of groundbreaking methodological approaches to gauging the trade-environment relationship generally.

The North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC) charges the CEC with a vast responsibility: nothing less than to foster the protection and improvement of our environment for the well-being of present and future generations.

And, while the milestones we’ve passed are a good measure of the progress we’ve made, much work remains to be accomplished.

We look forward to achieving even greater environmental improvements.