Commission for Environmental Cooperation

Media Release

Commission for Environmental Cooperation Funds 10 Community Grants for Sustainable Recovery from COVID-19 Pandemic

Montreal, 3 May 2022—Today, the North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) announced 10 community projects chosen under the 2022 North American Partnership for Environmental Community Action (NAPECA) grant program. This NAPECA cycle is supporting community-based recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, with C$1.5 million in grant funding to support environmental initiatives that help North American communities implement solutions and strengthen their capacities to recover and increase their resilience.

“The 10 winning projects aim to encourage an equitable recovery by helping communities, particularly the most vulnerable and underserved populations, to address challenges exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Richard Morgan, CEC Executive Director.

The NAPECA selection committee chose 10 final projects from more than 200 proposals. The selected projects meet the CEC Council’s strategic objectives for this program to support model environmental initiatives that will help build long-term partnerships and promote a shared responsibility and stewardship for the environment.

Work on the selected projects will begin in May 2022 and conclude by April 2024.

Congratulations to the following organizations:

Canada

  • South Saskatchewan River Watershed Stewards, project Building Pandemic Recovery and Response through Access to Safe Drinking Water at Beardy’s Okemasis Cree Nation
  • SeaChange Marine Conservation Society, project Revitalization of Indigenous Place-based Conservation for Coastal Restoration
  • N-EAT Project at Simon Fraser University, project Enhancing Food Sovereignty and Resiliency of Remote Indigenous Communities in British Columbia

Mexico

  • Mixbaal Fondo para el Fomento de la Educación, A.C., project Maya Peasant Community Agricultural School for Regenerative and Agroforestry Techniques
  • Grupo para Promover la Educación y el Desarrollo Sustentable, A.C., project Local Action to Mitigate Climate Change in Zapotec Communities of the Central Valleys of Oaxaca
  • Universidad Autónoma de Querétaro, project Co-generation of Sustainable Alternatives to Confront the Post-COVID Period in Vulnerable Communities of the Querétaro Semidesert

United States

  • Remy’s Good Day Fund, project Regenerative Agriculture, Solar Power, and Economic Development for Community Health and Resilience
  • Florida International University Foundation, project Enhancing Local Food Security through the Farmer-to-Farmer Model as a Rapid Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic
  • Rio Bravo Restoration, project Socio-environmental Capacity Building for COVID and Climate Change in Rural Communities of the Rio Grande/Bravo
  • Center for Large Landscape Conservation, project Strengthening the Capacity of Biosphere Regions; Place-based Solutions for North American Sustainability

The CEC’s NAPECA grant program supports nonprofit and nongovernmental entities in Canada, Mexico, and the United States and seeks to improve environmental conditions at the community, Indigenous, local and regional levels.

To learn more about NAPECA, visit www.cec.org/napeca.

NAPECA Grants program

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.

About the CEC video