Commission for Environmental Cooperation’s citizen committee submits advice to Council
CEC’s Joint Public Advisory Committee chair highlights advice and letter to Council
Montreal, 23 December 2015—The Commission for Environmental Cooperation’s (CEC) Joint Public Advisory Committee (JPAC) has submitted new advice and a letter to the CEC Council, JPAC Chair Gustavo Alanís-Ortega said today.
JPAC’s most recent advices stem from a public workshop held in Boston, Massachusetts, in July, entitled Water and Climate Change: Adaptation through Green Infrastructure, and a JPAC planning meeting held in Montreal, Quebec, in November. JPAC’s letter addressed to Council refers to pending Canadian and Mexican appointments to the committee.
“The five advices and five letters that JPAC submitted to Council this year reflect our profound commitment to conveying public input to Council on environmental challenges and solutions in a timely and effective fashion,” said Alanís-Ortega. “I congratulate Lindsay Brumwell, our newly appointed JPAC chair for 2016, and look forward to continuing to work with her and all of our committee colleagues to ensure that public engagement in the work of the CEC remains a vital part of the cooperative efforts by Canada, Mexico and the United States on the North American environment.”
Composed of 15 citizens (five from each country), JPAC advises the CEC Council on any matter within the scope of the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC) and serves as a source of information for the CEC Secretariat.
The CEC Council members are Canada’s Environment Minister Catherine McKenna, Mexico’s Secretary of the Environment and Natural Resources Rafael Pacchiano Alamán, and US Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy.
About the CEC
The Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) was established in 1994 by the governments of Canada, Mexico and the United States through the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation, a parallel environmental agreement to NAFTA. As of 2020, the CEC is recognized and maintained by the Environmental Cooperation Agreement, in parallel with the new Free Trade Agreement of North America. The CEC brings together a wide range of stakeholders, including the general public, Indigenous people, youth, nongovernmental organizations, academia, and the business sector, to seek solutions to protect North America’s shared environment while supporting sustainable development for the benefit of present and future generations
The CEC is governed and funded equally by the Government of Canada through Environment and Climate Change Canada, the Government of the United States of Mexico through the Secretaría de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales, and the Government of the United States of America through the Environmental Protection Agency.