Vision Statement

The Joint Public Advisory Committee (JPAC), together with the Council and the Secretariat comprise the North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC), a unique institution charged with seizing an historic opportunity.

The North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation sets a precedent as a formal environmental agreement adopted in parallel with a trade agreement, and the Commission it created also set a precedent by including a public, nongovernmental advisory group as one of its components.

JPAC was established as a cooperative mechanism to advise the Council in its deliberations and to advise the Secretariat in its planning and activities.

Our vision is to promote continental cooperation in ecosystem protection and sustainable economic development, and to ensure active public participation and transparency in the actions of the Commission.

While we come from three different nations, and have different institutional connections, we serve on the JPAC as individual citizens of the North American continent, joined in a commitment to preserving and enhancing our common environment and to achieving a sustainable society.

JPAC will work to provide firm leadership and constructive contributions to build a trinational model of collaboration, consensus building, and consensus-based results. JPAC is, in effect, a model for the future in a process which is without precedent, and which presents a great opportunity for cooperative progress.

26 July 1994
Washington, D.C.