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Environmental cooperation, a platform for sustainable development |
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Montreal, 4/12/2008 – Analyzing the relationship between environmental sustainability and commercial competitiveness and identifying opportunities for regional cooperation were the subjects of the North American Workshop on Environmental Sustainability and Competitiveness held this week in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, by the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) and its Joint Public Advisory Committee (JPAC).
In his welcoming address to the workshop participants, Adrián Vázquez-Gálvez, executive director of the CEC, referred to the environment as a springboard that is sure to lead to a new alignment of global priorities. “This workshop is an expression of how we can progress and be more competitive vis-à-vis opportunities in environmental cooperation,” he emphasized.
The one-and-one-half day event featured the participation of some of North America’s top experts in the environment, free trade, industry, transportation, business performance, health and competition, and those issues’ effects on the region. Leading innovators such as InterFace Inc., ZENN Motor Company and General Electric-Ecoimagination, also participated at the meeting.
“North America is not a polluter’s paradise. We are certain that the fears that accompanied the signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement are unfounded. The wealth and abundance of available information leaves no doubt that we are improving the region,” remarked Vázquez-Gálvez, citing the
North American Environmental Atlas as an example resource for use.
The workshop was keynoted by JPAC Chair Jane Gardner and Mexico’s Secretary of the Environment and Natural Resources (Semarnat), Juan Rafael Elvira Quesada, whose involvement in the event is in line with an interest in fostering JPAC activities and the conviction that government decisions should be based on open communication with society.
“I share the goals of this meeting. We need to show business and industry that sustainable development and business development can go hand in hand,” Elvira said.
Stressing the importance and convenience of implementing a plan to develop a trilateral carbon market among the three countries in North America, since “climate change will not wait for the global crisis to pass: it will continue to advance, so we need to act together,” the Semarnat head formally kicked off the activities and workshop work groups.
The Commission for Environmental Cooperation of North America is an international organization created under the
North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC), signed by Canada, the United States and Mexico in 1994. The CEC operates through three bodies: a Council of the highest environmental authority of each member country, the Joint Public Advisory Committee (JPAC) and a Secretariat headquartered in Montreal, Canada.
The Joint Public Advisory Committee (JPAC) is composed of
fifteen members, five from each of the three countries. The members,
as independent, individual citizens committed to preserving and improving the common environment, offer recommendations to the Council on issues related to the NAAEC.
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Commission for Environmental Cooperation
393, rue St-Jacques Ouest, Bureau 200
Montréal (Québec) Canada H2Y 1N9
Tel: (514) 350-4300; Fax: (514) 350-4314
E-mail: info@cec.org
Website: http://www.cec.org
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