| Montreal, 14/01/2002 – The North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) is today issuing a call for proposals for community-based projects seeking funds from the organization's North American Fund for Environmental Cooperation (NAFEC).
The fund supports grassroots environmental work that complements the CEC's own program activities. This year, grants will be awarded to projects that are related to renewable energy, energy conservation or energy efficiency. Preference will be given to projects that build on energy-related initiatives to develop other components of a sustainable economy.
Ideally, 2002 NAFEC grantees will also contribute to CEC's effort to answer the question: "What policies are needed to ensure that the transformation of the electricity market promotes sustainable development; that it generates both environmental and economic benefits?"
The 2002 grants will provide projects with a maximum of US$25,000. Last year NAFEC received nearly 300 proposals for the 2001 grant cycle. Since the fund was established in 1995, it has issued 160 grants totaling US$5.8 million.
Grant proposals must be received by NAFEC prior to 1 April 2002. Further information on applying for funds, as well as a list of previous grants, may be found on the CEC web site, http://www.cec.org, under the heading Grants for Environmental Cooperation.
The CEC was established by the NAFTA environmental side accord to build cooperation among Canada, Mexico and the United States in protecting their shared environments.
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