| Toronto, 2/08/1996 – The North American environment ministers today announced they will work with environmental technology groups in Canada, the United States and Mexico to create an electronic service to promote the sale of “green technology” — appropriate and cost-effective technologies that can help North American companies meet their environmental goals.
Canadian Environment Minister Sergio Marchi announced the public-private partnership at the close of a day-and-a-half meeting with his two counterparts, US Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Carol M. Browner and Mexican Secretary of Environment, Natural Resources and Fisheries Julia Carabias. Together, the three officials form the governing body of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC), created by the environmental side accord to NAFTA.
“A centralized clearinghouse on environmental technologies will benefit both consumers and producers. It will assist users in making the environmentally and economically preferred choice and help companies reach new markets,” stated Minister Marchi.
The environmental technology information service will help environmental technology and service suppliers in Canada, Mexico and the United States increase sales and introduce North American technology to companies in Central and South America.
This new environmental technology information service will draw on information and data collected by each of the three participating governments. One feature of this new service, which will be made available to companies across North America, is that it will contain core information in the three offical languages: French, Spanish and English.
“Initiatives such as the creation of an environmental technology clearinghouse clearly demonstrate the desire by the three countries to make progress toward pollution-prevention solutions rather than traditonal ‘end-of-the-pipe,’ pollution-control solutions,” said Secretary Carabias.
Three non-profit organizations in North America are participating in the development of the environmental technology database: the Ontario Centre for Environmental Technology Advancement (OCETA), the International Environmental Business and Technology Institute, Inc. (Envirotech Online) and the Environmental Quality Center at the Monterrey Technology Institute (ITESM).
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