JPAC Hosts Working Meeting on CEC’s Collaborative Work Program and Ongoing Initiatives
For the first time since the beginning of the pandemic, the Joint Public Advisory Committee (JPAC) held a hybrid working meeting in Montreal on December 9 and 10, 2021.
The working meeting provided a venue to discuss enhanced collaboration on environmental action in North America. Further, JPAC members identified priority topics to be addressed as part of their 2022 Annual Plan of Activities.
JPAC members met with the Commission for Environmental Cooperation’s key staff to discuss the CEC’s ambitious collaborative work program outlined in the 2021 Operational Plan. They expressed their continuous support and provided recommendations on ways to increase the organization’s impact.
As a result of the meeting, JPAC members will submit a letter to the Council reiterating their continuous support to the CEC’S work. It will also state the importance of promoting increased environmental cooperation at the continental scale.
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.