Environmental Challenges and Opportunities of the Evolving North American Electricity Market
The electricity sector across North America is currently experiencing a wave of unprecedented and rapid change. The opening of electricity markets to competition is underway or being considered in Canada, Mexico and the United States, and cross—border trade in electricity is growing, bolstered in part by the long—term stability conferred by NAFTA’s trade and investment […]
Environmental Disclosure Requirements in the Securities Regulations and Financial Accounting Standards of Canada, Mexico and the United States
Disclosure of financially material information is essential for the protection of investors against fraud and for the efficient functioning of financial markets. It is widely accepted as a fundamental principle of capital market governance that investors must have access to all relevant information in order to make rational decisions about buying, selling, or holding securities. Incomplete or asymmetric access to material information can easily lead to the mis-pricing of securities in financial markets. Moreover, lack of disclosure can conceal financial manipulation and misconduct.
Green Energy Market in Mexico
Mexico’s enormous opportunities for making use of renewable energy are limited by the relatively high costs involved and the government’s budgetary restrictions. International experience demonstrates, however, that it is possible to establish mechanisms that, if advanced by the government as public policy and without implying subsidies that would create new burdens on national public funds, […]
The Environmental Effects of Free Trade
Among the key issues shaping the free trade and economic globalization debate is the question of how trade liberalization affects environmental quality, either in terms of direct effects on our environment, or indirectly, for instance, the effects that such trade laws as those codified in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) have on hard-fought national environmental standards and regulations.
Environmental Impacts in the Agricultural Sector:
Agriculture plays a small part in the economies of NAFTA countries, contributing between 1-2% of GDP and 3% of employment, although these shares are larger in Mexico. But in terms of its impact on the environment and natural resources, agriculture’s role is more significant accounting for 45% of total land use and 40% of water use, except in Canada where these shares are lower.
Environmental Impacts of the Changes in US–Mexico Corn Trade Under NAFTA
As NAFTA enters its eighth year, many questions about its environmental and social impacts have not yet received definitive answers. Indeed, it is not always clear where to look for answers. Aggregate assessments covering all the impacts of NAFTA on one or more of the member nations raise complex methodological problems, involving major economic models that are far from transparent (Gallagher et al 2001).
Groundwater
This document has been developed by the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) to spur discussion and focus debate on groundwater in the North American context. The CEC has previously examined the legal and policy framework that underlies transboundary freshwater management in North America and has identified a number of emerging freshwater issues. In June 2001, […]
Changing Biodiversity, Changing Markets
This document is the formal description of the NABIN portal system (a gateway to information and knowledge about biodiversity through North America). It acts as the detailed plan from which the portal will be implemented, and it is organized in such a way that it supports reasoning about the structural properties of the system.
Backgrounder on the Status of Agriculture Negotiations at the WTO Focussing on NAFTA Parties and the Key Trade Liberalization Provisions of the WTO Uruguay Round Agreement on Agriculture
This Note has been produced by the Commission for Environmental Cooperation’s (CEC) secretariat. It has been prepared for the CEC’s “Assessing the Environmental Effects of Trade Liberalization: Lessons Learned and Future Challenges” meeting held in Montreal on the 17–18 January 2002. The Note is composed of two sections.
Trade Liberalization Impacts on Agriculture
This report reviews the economic and environmental predictions that have been made so far regarding the environmental impacts of agricultural trade liberalization in North America.
The North American Mosaic
The North American Mosaic has four overarching features. First, it is, to the extent feasible, based on comparable information on the status and trends of major indicators of thestate of the environment in Canada, Mexico, and the United States.
The Potential Market for Sustainable Coffee in North America
One of the great assets of North America is the richness of its biodiversity. Because of their familiarity to us and the many recognized services that they perform in our environment, birds are emblematic of this rich diversity. North America is home to nearly 20 percent of the world’s bird species. More than 1,100 species […]