JPAC Public Forum on Reaching Horizon 2030: An Environmental Outlook for North American Cooperation
Hotel BelAir Unique
Mexico City WTC
Dakota 95, Nápoles, Benito Juárez, 03810
Ciudad de México
Mexico
4 and 5 December, 2024
Public
The global community recognizes that we are in a critical decade where meeting 2030 climate and biodiversity goals is essential to keeping global warming within 1.5°C and addressing biodiversity loss. The CEC initiative, Reaching Horizon 2030: An Environmental Outlook for North American Cooperation (H-2030), aims to ensure that the CEC’s strategies, programs and partnerships effectively support Canada, Mexico and the United States in meeting key climate and biodiversity targets, while contributing to global leadership.
In this context, this Public Forum will serve as a platform for discussing how CEC efforts can be strategically aligned with international goals and identifying concrete actions and collaborative opportunities to help the North American region address the triple planetary crisis. Combining expert presentations with in-depth discussions among policymakers, experts, communities and key actors, the Forum aims to develop strategic recommendations for advancing actions by 2030 and crafting strategies to achieve regional and global environmental objectives, focusing on three priority areas:
- Earth Observation Technologies and Other Geographic Information System (GIS) Tools
- Sustainable Transportation
- Ecosystem Services / Sustainable Use and Management of Biodiversity
while considering four cross-cutting themes:
- Indigenous and Traditional Ecological Knowledge
- Environmental Justice
- Subnational Governance / Action (including cities / urban dimensions)
- Private Sector Engagement and Corporate Social Responsibility
Agenda
Time Zone: Central Standard Time (CST)
8:00 am-8:55 am
Hotel BelAir Unique Mexico City WTC
Registration of In-Person Public Participants
8:55 am-9:00 am
JPAC Public Forum Traditional Welcoming Ceremony
9:00 am-9:05 am
9:05 am-9:15 am
Welcoming Remarks
Esteban Escamilla Prado
JPAC Member
Esteban Escamilla Prado
JPAC Member
An agricultural engineer with an MA and PhD in tropical agroecosystems from the College of Postgraduates, Esteban Escamilla Prado’s doctoral dissertation concerned the study of organic coffee quality in Mexico. Since 1987, he has been a research professor at the Eastern University Regional Center (CRUO) of the Autonomous University of Chapingo (UACh), in Huatusco, Veracruz. Formerly the director of CRUO, he is currently research director at the National Center for Coffee Research, Innovation and Technological Development (Cenacafé). Aside from his research and teaching responsibilities, he dedicates part of his time to training and outreach work, teaching courses and offering certificate programs on comprehensive sustainable coffee cultivation, organic agriculture, biodiversity, sustainable land use, and agroforestry. Having ample experience in coffee cultivation, his research includes a range of topics: plant genetic resources, genetic improvement, coffee growing systems and technologies, economic diversification, edible insects, and worm farming. He has directed and advised numerous undergraduate and postgraduate dissertations. He has also published numerous books, articles and manuals, as well as presented many papers in local, national and international events.
Throughout his professional career, Escamilla Prado has participated in diverse activities related to comprehensive sustainable coffee cultivation in Mexico and various coffee-producing countries in Central and South America, with a focus on training and advising small scale and Indigenous producer cooperatives on organic production, fair trade and quality control. As an organic coffee producer himself, he is a founding member of the “Catuai Amarillo” cooperative and the Federation of High Mountains Specialty Coffees (Incafesam), social enterprises that export organic coffee to the United States and Europe. Moreover, he is a member and current president of the Steering Committee of the Mexican Certification Authority for Ecological Products and Processes (Certimex). He is a former mayor of Chocamán, Veracruz, his place of residence. Since 2019, he has collaborated with the Sowing Life program of the Mexican government’s Ministry of Welfare as an agroforestry and sustainable coffee cultivation expert.
9:15 am-9:30 am
Opening Remarks
Jorge Daniel Taillant
CEC Executive Director
Jorge Daniel Taillant
CEC Executive Director
Jorge Daniel Taillant serves as the CEC’s Executive Director since August of 2022.
He is a life-long global advocate for human rights and environmental protection. His career spans several decades, working with international development agencies, as an advisor to governments, leading innovative civil society organizations and networks, and with disadvantaged communities to tackle some of the world’s most pressing environmental challenges.
He has spear-headed incisive global initiatives to link human rights and environmental advocacy, pushing for more effective public policies, stronger legislation and greater corporate accountability and respect for human rights and environmental sustainability.
During the past decade, he has turned his focus to tackling the triple planetary crisis of climate change, pollution and biodiversity loss, advocating for immediate actions to aggressively phase out the most intense climate pollutants, such as methane, black carbon, hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), and tropospheric ozone (O3), while promoting inclusive, equitable and resilient adaptation for the most climate-vulnerable and disadvantaged communities.
9:30 am-9:40 am
Setting the Stage on Earth Observation Technologies and Other GIS Tools
9:40 am-10:40 am
Session 1: Expert Panel on Earth Observation Technologies and Other GIS Tools and Climate Change
This expert panel will explore opportunities for regional collaboration to take advantage of existing and emerging earth observation technologies, and other GIS tools, that can support climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts. The panel will also consider how data from these technologies and tools can be combined with social data to identify opportunities for improving the condition of disadvantaged communities and those with compounded vulnerabilities.
10:40 am-10:55 am
Movement Break
10:55 am-12:00 pm
Roundtables on Earth Observation Technologies and Other GIS Tools for Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation
This segment will provide an opportunity for invited experts, NGOs, government representatives and the public-at-large, to reflect on the expert presentations, and to discuss the following topics (with guiding questions as provided in Annex 1):
- Perspectives, priorities and gaps
- Opportunities for regional collaboration
- Solution-making for all
- Successful approaches for replication, scaling and regional impact
12:00 pm-1:00 pm
Lunch [provided]
1:00 pm-1:10 pm
Setting the Stage on Sustainable Transportation
1:10 pm-2:10 pm
Session 2: Expert Panel on Sustainable Transportation and Pollution Reduction
This expert panel presentation will explore strategies and opportunities to advance cleaner, more sustainable transportation, particularly examining areas where concentrations of emissions are contributing significantly to regional pollution and impacting local community health.
2:10 pm-3:10 pm
Roundtables on Sustainable Transportation for Pollution Reduction (Table Discussions and Share)
This segment will provide an opportunity for invited experts, NGOs, government representatives and the public-at-large, to reflect on the expert presentations, and to share their expertise, experience and insights on four topics (with guiding questions as provided in Annex 1):
- Perspectives, priorities and gaps
- Opportunities for regional collaboration
- Solution-making for all
- Successful approaches for replication, scaling and regional impact
3:10 pm-3:25 pm
Movement Break
3:25 pm-4:25 pm
Session 3: Expert Panel on Solution-Making for All
This expert panel presentation will explore strategies and opportunities to address the triple planetary crisis in ways that will benefit all peoples of the region. Panelists will explore dimensions of environmental justice, engagement of and solution-making with and for disadvantaged communities and those with compounded vulnerabilities.
4:25 pm-4:55 pm
Session 4: Youth Voices on H-2030
In this session, three youth experts representing youth across North America and who facilitated a discussion on youth engagement as part of CEC’s Youth Engagement Week, will share the perspectives, priorities and recommendations for regional action in response to the triple planetary crisis.
4:55 pm-5:00 pm
5:00 pm-6:00 pm
Networking Social (only for in-person participants)
Time Zone: Central Standard Time (CST)
7:30 am-8:30 am
Hotel BelAir Unique Mexico City WTC
Registration of In-Person Public Participants
8:30 am-8:45 am
Remarks
Esteban Escamilla Prado
JPAC Member
Esteban Escamilla Prado
JPAC Member
An agricultural engineer with an MA and PhD in tropical agroecosystems from the College of Postgraduates, Esteban Escamilla Prado’s doctoral dissertation concerned the study of organic coffee quality in Mexico. Since 1987, he has been a research professor at the Eastern University Regional Center (CRUO) of the Autonomous University of Chapingo (UACh), in Huatusco, Veracruz. Formerly the director of CRUO, he is currently research director at the National Center for Coffee Research, Innovation and Technological Development (Cenacafé). Aside from his research and teaching responsibilities, he dedicates part of his time to training and outreach work, teaching courses and offering certificate programs on comprehensive sustainable coffee cultivation, organic agriculture, biodiversity, sustainable land use, and agroforestry. Having ample experience in coffee cultivation, his research includes a range of topics: plant genetic resources, genetic improvement, coffee growing systems and technologies, economic diversification, edible insects, and worm farming. He has directed and advised numerous undergraduate and postgraduate dissertations. He has also published numerous books, articles and manuals, as well as presented many papers in local, national and international events.
Throughout his professional career, Escamilla Prado has participated in diverse activities related to comprehensive sustainable coffee cultivation in Mexico and various coffee-producing countries in Central and South America, with a focus on training and advising small scale and Indigenous producer cooperatives on organic production, fair trade and quality control. As an organic coffee producer himself, he is a founding member of the “Catuai Amarillo” cooperative and the Federation of High Mountains Specialty Coffees (Incafesam), social enterprises that export organic coffee to the United States and Europe. Moreover, he is a member and current president of the Steering Committee of the Mexican Certification Authority for Ecological Products and Processes (Certimex). He is a former mayor of Chocamán, Veracruz, his place of residence. Since 2019, he has collaborated with the Sowing Life program of the Mexican government’s Ministry of Welfare as an agroforestry and sustainable coffee cultivation expert.
8:55 am-9:55 am
Session 5: Expert Panel on Indigenous Rights and Traditional Ecological Knowledge
This expert panel will focus on the perspectives, priorities, resilience, leadership, and self-determination of Indigenous Peoples in relation to the triple planetary crisis. The session will also highlight the vital role of Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK), exploring the unique contributions of Indigenous Knowledge Systems to understanding and addressing this crisis. Panelists will present on the strategies and actions of their tribes, nations, or communities to ensure the meaningful inclusion of TEK and the respect of Indigenous rights in addressing the triple planetary crisis across the region.
9:55 am-10:10 am
Movement Break
10:10 am-10:20 am
Setting the Stage on Ecosystem Services/Sustainable Use and Management of Biodiversity
10:20 am-11:20 am
Session 6: Expert Panel on Ecosystem Services/Sustainable Use and Management of Biodiversity
This expert panel will explore the actions that increase the provision of ecosystem services in the region, including opportunities for improving biodiversity management and strengthening water management across key groups in North America.
11:20 am-12:20 pm
Roundtables on Ecosystem Services/Sustainable Use and Management of Biodiversity
This segment will provide an opportunity for invited experts, NGOs, government representatives and the public-at-large, to reflect on the expert presentations, and to share their expertise, experience and insights on four topics (with guiding questions as provided in Annex 1):
- Perspectives, priorities and gaps
- Opportunities for regional collaboration
- Solution-making for all
- Successful approaches for replication, scaling and regional impact
12:20 pm-1:20 pm
Lunch [provided]
1:20 pm-1:50 pm
Session 7: Expert Panel on Subnational Governments Role in Addressing the Triple Planetary Crisis
This expert panel presentation will explore the actions being taken and the strategies and opportunities that exist through subnational entities to address the triple planetary crisis in ways that will benefit all peoples of the region. They will be asked to reflect on how they can partner with their federal/national counterparts and work strategically with the CEC to deliver concrete actions across the region.
1:50 pm-2:20 pm
Session 8: Expert Panel on the Private Sector’s Role in Addressing the Triple Planetary Crisis
This expert panel presentation will explore the actions being taken and the strategies and opportunities that exist for private sector entities to address the triple planetary crisis, particularly in the priority topics areas of EOS/GIS, Sustainable Transportation and Ecosystem Services. The experts will be asked to reflect on how they can work strategically with the CEC to deliver concrete actions that will benefit the region.
2:20 pm-3:30 pm
Session 9: Roundtables of Reflection
This segment will provide an opportunity for invited experts, NGOs, government representatives and the public-at-large, to reflect on the expert presentations delivered over the course of the entire forum and to discuss their views on the take-aways they are left with, the emerging issues they feel need to be tackled, and the opportunities that they see for CEC action going forward.
3:30 pm-3:45 pm
Movement Break
3:45 pm-4:15 pm
Reflections from the Workstreams
- EO/GIS Tools and Climate Change Workstream Head: Orlando Cabrera-Rivera, CEC Head of Environmental Quality Unit
- Sustainable Transportation Workstream Head: Armando Yáñez Sandoval, CEC Head of Unit, Green Growth
- Ecosystem Services / Sustainable Use and Management of Biodiversity Workstream Heas: Lucie Robidoux/CBD, CEC Head of Unit, Ecosystems
4:15 pm-4:30 pm
Open Dialogue with the JPAC Members
This segment will provide an opportunity for invited experts, NGOs, government representatives and the public-at-large, to share other examples of successful collaborations/alliances and to raise other issues they wish to share with JPAC.
5:15 pm-5:30 pm
Closing Remarks
Esteban Escamilla Prado
JPAC Member
Esteban Escamilla Prado
JPAC Member
An agricultural engineer with an MA and PhD in tropical agroecosystems from the College of Postgraduates, Esteban Escamilla Prado’s doctoral dissertation concerned the study of organic coffee quality in Mexico. Since 1987, he has been a research professor at the Eastern University Regional Center (CRUO) of the Autonomous University of Chapingo (UACh), in Huatusco, Veracruz. Formerly the director of CRUO, he is currently research director at the National Center for Coffee Research, Innovation and Technological Development (Cenacafé). Aside from his research and teaching responsibilities, he dedicates part of his time to training and outreach work, teaching courses and offering certificate programs on comprehensive sustainable coffee cultivation, organic agriculture, biodiversity, sustainable land use, and agroforestry. Having ample experience in coffee cultivation, his research includes a range of topics: plant genetic resources, genetic improvement, coffee growing systems and technologies, economic diversification, edible insects, and worm farming. He has directed and advised numerous undergraduate and postgraduate dissertations. He has also published numerous books, articles and manuals, as well as presented many papers in local, national and international events.
Throughout his professional career, Escamilla Prado has participated in diverse activities related to comprehensive sustainable coffee cultivation in Mexico and various coffee-producing countries in Central and South America, with a focus on training and advising small scale and Indigenous producer cooperatives on organic production, fair trade and quality control. As an organic coffee producer himself, he is a founding member of the “Catuai Amarillo” cooperative and the Federation of High Mountains Specialty Coffees (Incafesam), social enterprises that export organic coffee to the United States and Europe. Moreover, he is a member and current president of the Steering Committee of the Mexican Certification Authority for Ecological Products and Processes (Certimex). He is a former mayor of Chocamán, Veracruz, his place of residence. Since 2019, he has collaborated with the Sowing Life program of the Mexican government’s Ministry of Welfare as an agroforestry and sustainable coffee cultivation expert.
5:30 pm
Adjournment
Contact
Marcela Orozco
Head of Unit, Advisory Groups and Private Sector Engagement
(514) 350-4305