Save the Date for #CEC30: Annual Commission for Environmental Cooperation Council Session, 28 & 29 June 2023, in Victoria, Canada
Montreal, 28 February 2023—Mark your calendars for the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC)’s 30th annual Council Session and Joint Public Advisory Committee (JPAC) Public Forum, to be held 28 and 29 June 2023, in Victoria, British Columbia. For nearly 30 years, the Governments of Canada, Mexico and the United States have worked together through the CEC to conserve, protect and enhance the North American environment. Since July 2020, these trinational efforts have continued through the Environmental Cooperation Agreement, alongside the USMCA/CUSMA/T-MEC.
Each year, the CEC convenes the top environmental officials from Canada, Mexico and the United States to engage with the public in a dialogue on pressing environmental issues facing our region. This year, the Honourable Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Environment and Climate Change Canada, will host his counterparts, United States Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan and Secretary María Luisa Albores González of Mexico’s Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources (Semarnat).
The CEC’s Joint Public Advisory Committee will kick off the two-day event, by hosting a Public Forum on 28 June, which will offer public participants representing a diversity of stakeholders and Indigenous Peoples from the three countries the opportunity to engage in a dialogue on critical environmental issues and share their perspectives within the framework of the Council Session.
Throughout #CEC30, participants can learn from and engage with subject matter experts, business leaders, youth, Indigenous and community leaders, and other stakeholders focused on enhancing trilateral cooperation to conserve, protect and enhance North America’s unique biodiversity and natural resources. Remote and in-person participants will also hear from the CEC Council during the Council Public Session on 29 June.
The 2023 CEC Council Session and JPAC Public Forum are open to the public and both will be live streamed in English, French and Spanish. The agenda and registration details will be announced in April 2023.
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This year, Canada’s Minister Steven Guilbeault will host his counterparts from Mexico and the United States for the Commission for Environmental Cooperation’s 30th Council Session and JPAC Public Forum, under the United States-Mexico-Canada trade Agreement (USMCA/CUSMA/T-MEC).
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.