| Montreal, 5/06/2000 – The effects of NAFTA on water, rainforests, fisheries, industrial pollution, hazardous wastes and the so-called 'race to the bottom' are among the research findings to be presented in a symposium later this year on the effects of trade liberalization on the North American environment. The two-day North American Symposium on Understanding the Linkages between Trade and Environment, is being convened by the North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) in Washington, D.C., in October.
"These questions have been of great concern to North American society since the negotiation of NAFTA," says symposium chair Pierre Marc Johnson, "They were the reason the CEC was created in the first place, so I know there is a healthy appetite for some answers," says the former Quebec Premier.
The CEC was established by Canada, Mexico and the United States to build cooperation among the NAFTA partners in addressing environmental challenges and opportunities presented by continent-wide free trade.
With the assistance of an advisory committee, the CEC has selected fourteen proposals for research papers from over 50 that were received in response to the CEC's call for papers issued in late 1999. Together the papers will provide analysis across a range of sectors and represent a variety of approaches, though they will all apply, as appropriate, the CEC's Analytic Framework for Assessing the Environmental Effects of NAFTA. The papers are being prepared with full editorial independence by nongovernmental organizations and research institutes from Canada, Mexico and the United States, as well as two international organizations. A complete list of papers with links to abstracts may be found on the Symposium page of the CEC web site.
The symposium will take place in Auditorium H of the World Bank headquarters in Washington, D.C., on 11-12 October 2000. It will be open to the public, with no registration or other fees. Given the space limitations, attendance will be on a first-come first-served basis. To register for the conference, please contact Alejandro Borja at <aborja@ccemtl.org>, or telephone (514) 350-4328.
NOTE TO MEDIA: For further information on the symposium or to arrange interviews with symposium chair Pierre Marc Johnson or any of the participants, please contact Charles Dickson, e-mail: <cdickson@ccemtl.org> or call (514) 350- |
