This project is intended to accelerate energy and cost savings and greenhouse gas emission reductions in North America’s industrial and commercial sectors by helping to grow the workforce needed to implement ISO 50001 and the Superior Energy Performance® program in Canada, Mexico, and the United States; demonstrating the economic and environmental benefits of ISO 50001 […]
In Canada, Mexico and the United States, an inordinate amount of food waste is disposed of in landfills, where it is decomposed by bacteria under anaerobic conditions, contributing to the formation and release of methane gas—a short-lived climate pollutant and greenhouse gas that is over 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide and has an […]
Building on previous CEC work with the Suppliers Partnership for the Environment and Alianza Verde Automotriz for the North American automotive manufacturing sector, this project laid the groundwork for the establishment of a public-private partnership in the bus and heavy-duty truck manufacturing sectors. It provided a forum for sharing continued improvement, innovation, and successes of […]
Building on the Article 13 report from the CEC Secretariat on the environmental hazards of transboundary spent lead-acid battery recycling, this project developed technical guidelines on environmentally sound management practices for secondary lead smelters and other facilities that process these batteries, including best practices and technologies for collecting and recycling in a manner that protects […]
Buildings in North America are major consumers of electricity and water and contribute an estimated 35 percent of the continent’s total greenhouse gas emissions. Building greener, more environmentally sustainable structures can reduce the environmental impacts of our buildings. This project engaged the private sector and governmental agencies in strengthening the environmental and economic performance of […]
By strengthening cooperation to further environmental compliance and intelligence-led enforcement, this project improved the Parties’ capacities to target illegal trade in environmentally regulated materials, including e-waste, hazardous waste, ozone-depleting substances, non-compliant motorcycles, and targeted species of wildlife in North America. An important element of this project was to increase understanding of regulatory gaps and to […]
This project is part of the Sound Management of Chemicals (SMOC) Program of the CEC, and gives priority to the management of substances of mutual interest that are persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic. Part of the SMOC’s work to date has focused on supporting Mexico to create capacity and have a common level of information on […]
Many of the cars we drive are truly North American products: they may be built in the United States with an engine made in Canada and a transmission from Mexico. Those parts, along with thousands of others made and assembled by companies across the content, form a vast supply chain connecting all three countries. The […]
Electronic devices—TVs, smart phones, and computers—are integrated into modern life. They are more affordable than ever but they also become obsolete very rapidly. When this happens, most of them are discarded, stored, or shipped abroad, where recycling sometimes may not occur in environmentally sound ways. Electronic devices contain approximately 40 to 60 compounds and metals […]
Pollution in the environment can have significant effects on human health. However, some individuals, or even groups of people, are more vulnerable to health risks from exposure to environmental contamination. Many variables directly or indirectly influence these health effects. For example, air pollutants can trigger asthma among the very young and very old, as well […]
Green building addresses climate change and other energy-related air emissions in two basic ways: First (and most importantly), by reducing the amount of energy used to light, heat, cool, and operate buildings and their appliances. Second, by substituting what currently is mostly carbon-based energy with alternatives that do not involve the production of greenhouse gases […]
The ongoing environmental assessment of NAFTA is a cornerstone of the CEC. This project will enhance the CEC’s efforts to monitor the environmental effects of NAFTA and broaden the understanding of environment and trade linkages to promote policy coherence, at both the domestic and the regional levels in North America. The project also aims to […]
