Thursday, March 28, 2024

North American officials meet for environmental cooperation session

EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy
EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy will welcome environmental officials from Mexico and Canada in Boston tonight as part of a two-day session for the Council for the Commission on Environmental Cooperation (CEC).

Mexican Environment Deputy Secretary Rodolfo Lacy Tamayo, who is representing Secretary Juan José Guerra Abud, and Canadian Environmental Minister Leona Aglukkaq will meet with McCarthy today and Wednesday during the CEC’s 22nd regular session. 

The U.S. currently serves as the rotating chair of the CEC, an intergovernmental organization. Stemming from the North American Free Trade Agreement, the CEC was created under the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation.

On the agenda for this session are plans for both 2015 and 2016 operations and a five-year plan from 2015 to 2020. The council will also focus on the effects of climate change and the need for community resilience and adaptation. 

This session will see announcements on the experts from each country who will advise the Joint Public Advisory Committee on potential applications of traditional ecological knowledge, as well as the third round of North American Partnership for Environmental Community Action grants.