CEC Secretariat welcomes new Council member Rafael Pacchiano Alamán
Montreal, 4 September 2015— The Secretariat of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) welcomes as a new member of the CEC Council Rafael Pacchiano Alamán, who was recently appointed Mexico’s Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources.
Secretary Pacchiano joins the other two current members of the Council: Leona Aglukkaq, Canada’s Minister of the Environment, and Gina McCarthy, Administrator of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
“I am pleased to welcome Secretary Pacchiano to the CEC Council and look forward to working with him, together with Minister Aglukkaq and Administrator McCarthy, in support of their cooperative efforts in addressing North American environmental issues,” said CEC Executive Director Irasema Coronado. “I also wish to express my thanks to former Secretary Juan José Guerra Abud for his leadership as a dedicated member of the CEC Council.”
A press release (in Spanish only) from the Mexican government on Secretary Pacchiano’s appointment to Cabinet can be viewed here.
As the governing body of the CEC, the Council is composed of the highest-level environmental authorities (cabinet-level or equivalent) from Canada, Mexico, and the United States. The Council oversees the implementation of the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC) and serves as a forum for the discussion of environmental matters within the scope of the Agreement.
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.