The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lisa P. Jackson will join Canadian Environment Minister Peter Kent and Mexican Environment Secretary Juan Rafael Elvira Quesada in New Orleans, La. Tomorrow, July 11, for the 19th Annual Council at the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) session.
Administrator Jackson will lead discussions on major challenges facing North America’s environment and the CEC’s ongoing efforts to address these challenges. The meetings will also focus on efforts to establish a more efficient process for citizen submissions on enforcement matters, supporting the development of healthier communities and strengthening community and ecosystem resilience.
The CEC is an international organization established by the United States, Canada, and Mexico under the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC), an additional agreement to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Since its creation in 1994, the CEC has advanced our understanding of trade-environment linkages, successfully promoted citizen engagement and increased government accountability regarding enforcement, achieved substantial results on key North American issues such as chemicals management and the conservation of North American biodiversity, and built substantial environmental capacities, particularly in Mexico, but also in the United States and Canada.
