CEC highlights from the last 20 years
Scroll through and click to learn more about the Commission's impact in North America
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Each year, the CEC Council—cabinet-level environment ministers from the three countries—meets to discuss the joint agenda for environmental cooperation in North America. 2014 - 20 years of environmental cooperation in North America
The CEC Council meets to celebrate 20 years of environmental cooperation in North America in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada. Canada, Mexico and the United States look forward to many more decades of collaboration via the Commission for Environmental Cooperation, an institution that will continue to have a critical role to play in protecting our shared environment.
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Diverse pressures on North America's central grasslands are threatening grassland ecosystems and the economies they support. 2013 - North American Grasslands Alliance: A Framework for Change
In 2013, the CEC launched the North American Grasslands Alliance: A Framework for Change, which lays a strong foundation to bring about the deep changes that are required for a continentally integrated planning and management approach to achieve lasting sustainability of the North American grasslands. This Framework contains foundational principles, objectives and priorities to sustain working landscapes, conserve biodiversity, and support vibrant rural communities across North America. It represents the work of over 70 grassland experts from Canada, Mexico and the United States, who joined forces to develop this collaborative approach.
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Workshop on Electronic Investigations for Environmental and Wildlife Law Enforcement Officers in Miami, Florida, USA. 2013 - Regional cooperation in law enforcement
North American governments provide a strong model of regional cooperation in law enforcement through the CEC enforcement groups. To date, the CEC has conducted training activities and maintained online training platforms to help more than 600 environmental, wildlife, and customs officials identify illegal shipments of environmentally regulated materials, such as ozone-depleting materials, hazardous waste, and endangered species of wildlife subject to illegal shipments.
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North America's marine protected areas form networks of remarkable places along the coasts of Canada, the United States and Mexico that protect our continent's incredible variety of marine life and help sustain our communities. 2012 - North American Marine Protected Area Network
The CEC's North American Marine Protected Area Network (NAMPAN) culminated a decade of marine work with the publication in 2012 of two guides for designing marine protected areas networks in a changing climate and the development of five films on the benefits of marine protected areas. The MPA films were developed in collaboration with North America's aquariums and have had over 150,000 online views.
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A NAPECA grant allows four Environmental Justice Corps fellows to be trained to use innovative participatory research techniques to collect environmental results and document health impacts of chemical exposure from petrochemical pollutants in Shreveport, Louisiana. 2012 - North American Partnership for Environmental Community Action
The CEC Council Ministers announce the creation of the North American Partnership for Environmental Community Action (NAPECA) grant program. Now in its second cycle of funding, NAPECA has delivered nearly C$3 million to support environmental protection and preservation at the community level across North America.
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In parts of Alaska, one in four Native infants is hospitalized each year with acute respiratory infections, and hospitalization rates for acute and chronic respiratory diseases in infants of these communities are among the highest ever documented. 2011 - Indoor air quality
Studies show that in many native communities in rural Alaska, a combination of substandard housing, overcrowding, poor indoor air quality, lack of indoor plumbing and other environmental factors are leading to chronic respiratory health issues. In 2011, the CEC launched a project in Alaska, United States aimed at reducing the need for respiratory medical treatment among high-risk children in several of these communities. The project, still ongoing, has partnered with the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium to identify children with a history of serious and frequent respiratory problems and perform targeted inventions in the home (improved ventilation, installing of efficient wood-burning stoves) to improve indoor air quality. As of 2014, the pilot project has remediated 47 households housing 161 children in six communities, and results already show a decreased number of hospitalizations and missed days of school.
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Major North American automobile manufacturing companies are often recognized for their innovative sustainable business practices, but what about their suppliers, many of which have less profile but are an essential part of the production process? 2011 - Creation of the Mexican Alianza Verde Automotriz
A CEC project funds the creation of the Mexican Alianza Verde Automotriz branch of the North American Suppliers Partnership, creating a continent-wide alliance of auto manufacturers, collaborating and championing sustainable practices in the auto supply chain. A similar alliance is now being established via the CEC's 2013-14 work program for the North American bus and truck manufacturing sector.
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The report underlined that to achieve a reduction in GHG emissions from freight transportation, North American countries will need not only continued progress in developing fuel economy, technologies, and alternative fuels, but also the vision and will to create an integrated, intelligent, freight transportation system in North America. 2009 - Destination Sustainability
The Secretariat launched an independent report under NAAEC Article 13 to evaluate opportunities for making freight transportation more sustainable in North America. The transportation sector contributes about 26 percent of total greenhouse gas emissions in North America, and at least a quarter of that share is related to transporting freight. The report, Destination Sustainability: Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Freight Transportation in North America, identifies several recommendations for action by the three countries, including putting a price on carbon and reducing border delays while trucks idle. The report has been influential in shaping cooperation activities under the trinational cooperation programs of the CEC.
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The North American Environmental Atlas is an interactive mapping tool to research, analyze and manage environmental issues in Canada, United States and Mexico. 2007 - North American Environmental Atlas
Using data and mapping from national programs, the CEC launched the North American Environmental Atlas, a free online mapping tool that contains more than 65 map layers covering Canada, Mexico and the US. The Atlas layers include changes in land cover such as crops, forests and urban areas, locations of watersheds, marine ecoregions, facilities reporting pollutants, CO2 emissions, protected areas and climate layers. The CEC supported the partnering of the national atlas programs from Natural Resources Canada, the Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía (INEGI—National Institute of Statistics and Geography), and the United States Geological Survey (USGS) to create seamless maps and data to better understand North American environmental issues and visualize change across the continent.
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A Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (PRTR) provides annual data on the amounts of pollutants released from a facility to the air, water and land and injected underground, as well as transferred off-site for recycling, treatment or disposal. 2006 - Taking Stock
With CEC support, Mexico made it mandatory for industrial facilities to report on 104 toxic chemicals and created the Registro de Emisiones y Transferencia de Contaminantes (RETC). The creation of the mandatory RETC demonstrated the benefits of international cooperation in North America. From the earliest days of the CEC in 1995, Canada, Mexico and the US had agreed to develop what was then the world's first matched set of trinational data on pollution releases and transfers. The CEC's flagship Taking Stock report and online database continues to be an important tool for promoting public access to PRTR data to improve understanding of the sources and management of pollutants of common concern.
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Leatherbacks have perfected the navigational skills that allow them to travel the world's oceans in search of prey and develop cues to help adult females return to their natal beaches to produce the next generation of the world's largest sea turtles. While leatherbacks have survived natural limiting factors for millions of years, they are no match for the collective pressures humans have placed on them. 2005 - North American Conservation Action Plans (NACAPs)
The CEC unveils six of the first trinational conservation plans formulated for North American wildlife species. The North American Conservation Action Plans (NACAPs) included: the humpback whale, pink-footed shearwater, leatherback turtle, burrowing owl, ferruginous hawk, and black-tailed prairie dog. In addition, detailed trinational actions and sustainable economic activities in the communities involved in conservation were developed to protect the Vaquita marina porpoise and the iconic monarch butterfly. The action plans established a common conservation approach across the continent, and presented actions to reduce threats, share expertise and provide key information to the public and wildlife officers. CEC efforts to implement the NACAPs included training and information-sharing programs on monitoring and conservation techniques of the target species.
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Shade trees protect coffee plants from rain and sun, help maintain soil quality, reduce the need for weeding, and provide habitat for diverse wildlife. Organic matter from the trees also provides natural mulch, which reduces the need for chemical fertilizers, prevents erosion, and contributes important nutrients to the soil. 2004 - Shade-grown coffee
The CEC's trinational cooperation on shade-grown coffee had direct trade benefits for the three countries. In 2003, Starbucks purchased more than 1.6 million pounds of shade-grown coffee from Mexico and invested $200,000 in Conservation International's Conservation Coffee program. In addition, the CEC's shade-grown coffee initiative resulted in the development of ecological criteria for shade-grown coffee farming, which were incorporated into the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center's "Bird Friendly" labeling system. The success of this work led to the involvement of some 700 farmers who received a 60-percent price premium over local prices and exported 50 percent more than the year before the program started.
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NABCI is an agreement and partnership between Canadian, American and Mexican organizations and agencies to work together to protect the continent's most endangered bird species, such as the Ferruginous Hawk, pictured here. 2001 - The North American Bird Conservation Initiative (NABCI)
The CEC launched a new initiative to protect birds and bird habitat across North America, especially along migratory routes that span the three countries. The North American Bird Conservation Initiative (NABCI) allows a range of government agencies to coordinate conservation efforts with bird conservation groups, researchers and others. NABCI continues its efforts independently, following the successful launch of this initiative by the CEC, and the members continue to contribute directly to the CEC's work by participating in steering committees for CEC projects, especially on trinational grasslands conservation.
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This report emphasizes the importance of developing mutually compatible economic, social, and environmental goals and policies across the three-country region. 2001 - The North American Mosaic
The CEC releases a major study on crucial issues facing the North American environment: air and atmosphere, biodiversity and ecosystems, pollutants and water quality. Using major environmental indicators from all three countries, The North American Mosaic examined environmental trends in North America and studied possible threats, including the impacts of climate change, population growth, and disasters.
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DDT is a persistent, broad spectrum pesticide that in the past has been widely used in agriculture and for the control of mosquitoes, black flies and other insect pests and disease vectors. 2000 - Eliminating DDT
Through a North American Regional Action Plan, the three North American countries succeeded in virtually eliminating DDT from the environments of Canada, Mexico and the United States, marking one of the most outstanding achievements of the CEC's Sound Management of Chemicals program. As part of a joint undertaking between the CEC and the Pan American Health Organization, and with support from the Global Environment Facility, Mexico has been sharing lessons learned with Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama.
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The North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (Article 10(6)(d)) directs the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) to consider on an ongoing basis the environmental effects of NAFTA. 1999 - Final Analytic Framework for Assessing the Environmental Effects of NAFTA
The CEC released its Final Analytic Framework for Assessing the Environmental Effects of NAFTA. It was the subject of an extensive review throughout that year by the public, peers and the CEC's Joint Public Advisory Committee. Revisions to this framework led to the release in 1999 of the phase II document, Assessing Environmental Effects of the North American Free Trade Agreement, which encompassed the framework and methodology used by independent consultants for research, presented at a series of four CEC symposia held over the next several years, looking at the environmental effects of trade.
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Developing and refining the framework for the study of North American ecological regions involved consultation between federal, state, provincial and territorial agencies as well as nongovernmental groups, universities and institutes. The map and following report represented the working group's best consensus on the distribution and characteristics of major ecosystems throughout the three North American countries. 1997 - State of the North American environment
A principal responsibility of the CEC, as set forth in the NAAEC, is to study and report on the state of the North American environment. To begin this work, the CEC released its first study classifying the terrestrial ecoregions, Ecological Regions of North America: Toward a Common Perspective. This work would continue over the next 15 years, refining the ecoregional descriptions and mapping at greater levels of specificity and detail.
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Article 13 is a section of the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC) that gives the Secretariat authority to prepare reports on important environmental issues and present them to the governments and people of Canada, Mexico, and the United States. 1997 - Independent Article 13 report - Continental Pollutant Pathways
An independent Article 13 report was released, examining the long-range transport through the air of several persistent pollutants in North America that know no boundaries. The report, Continental Pollutant Pathways, recommended the three governments dedicate adequate funding to improve monitoring programs and work collaboratively to act as a global leader in addressing long-term and large-scale threats to regional environmental security. To date, the CEC's Sound Management of Chemicals program and Pollutant Release and Transfer Registry program have provided consistent funding to improve pollutant monitoring capacity in all three countries, and have shared and collaborated globally including with several United Nations bodies and treaty organizations.
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Women in Michoacán, Mexico, learn how to avoid lead contamination in pottery-making, as part of a 2003 NAFEC grant awarded to the Grupo Interdisciplinario de Tecnología Rural Apropiada (GIRA), A.C. 1996 - North American Fund for Environmental Cooperation (NAFEC)
The North American Fund for Environmental Cooperation (NAFEC) was launched and CEC funded this grant program from 1996 to 2003. Over that period, NAFEC awarded 196 grants, totaling C$9.36 million. It supported innovative community-based projects that complemented the work of the CEC and promoted the goals and objectives of the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation. NAFEC grants had concrete results at the local level as well as outcomes that could be shared as models throughout North America.
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The international wildlife trade—both legal and illegal—is a diverse and lucrative multibillion-dollar industry for which North America is a major hub. Canada, Mexico and the United States not only engage in direct cross-border trade of native species but also serve as trade routes and destinations for plants and animals from other parts of the world. 1995 - North American Wildlife Enforcement Group (NAWEG)
With coordination support from the CEC, the North American Wildlife Enforcement Group (NAWEG) was formed as a forum for trilateral cooperation in wildlife enforcement. The group continues to this day to improve North America's capacity to enforce laws regulating trade in wildlife, concentrating enforcement efforts on the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). NAWEG offers training to wildlife enforcement officers, expands access to forensic resources and technologies, and coordinates the exchange of wildlife enforcement information, both in North America and globally. The CEC has been supporting this group since its creation by providing technical and administrative assistance, as needed.
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NAFTA Initialing Ceremony
From left to right (standing) Mexican President Carlos Salinas de Gortari, US President George H. W. Bush, Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney.
(Seated) Mexican Secretary of Commerce and Industrial Development Jaime Serra Puche, United States Trade Representative Carla Hills, Canadian Minister of International Trade Michael Wilson.1994 - Free Trade Agreement
NAFTA was the first Free Trade Agreement to link free trade with obligations to protect the environment when it was signed and its side accord, the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC), came into force, creating the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC). Aside from their importance in catalyzing environmental work between the NAFTA Parties, the CEC and the NAAEC remain influential as a source of experience and expertise in trade and environment issues at a global level.