Law college dean to lead international environmental advisory committee
Eric Dannenmaier will chair the Commission for Environmental Cooperation’s Joint Public Advisory Committee in 2017
Montreal, 19 January 2017—A leading expert in environmental advocacy is taking the helm of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation’s Joint Public Advisory Committee (JPAC) for 2017. Dr. Eric Dannenmaier, dean of Northern Illinois University’s College of Law, has a long history of service to governments, international organizations, and public interest groups in reforming environmental laws and designing legal frameworks for participation in decision-making.
Dannenmaier will chair the advisory committee this year as it holds public consultations in the three countries on pressing environmental matters of regional interest and provides advice to the CEC Council, made up of North America’s top environmental officials. JPAC is composed of fifteen citizen volunteers (five from each country) and advises the Council on any matter within the scope of the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation.
“If there is one thing I learned from 25 years in environmental law and environmental policy, it is that we have to address big, transborder problems cooperatively. As both JPAC and the CEC move forward in 2017, we must encourage the public to engage as much as possible with us to ensure that strong, informed, sustainable action is being taken for our shared environment.”
The JPAC Chair is elected for a one-year term and by rotation from among the members. JPAC meets throughout the year in different locations within the three countries, typically in conjunction with CEC events.
Dannenmaier’s past experience includes serving as director for the Environmental Energy and Natural Resources Law Program at Indiana University and director of the Tulane Law School’s Institute for Environmental Law and Policy. He also served as director of the Environmental Law Program of the US Agency for International Development from 1996 to 2000, working through the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) in Washington, DC, and the University of Miami’s North-South Center.
For more information about the CEC’s Joint Public Advisory Committee, visit www.cec.org/jpac.
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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.