Strategic Plan. of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation

Transcription

1 Strategic Pla of the Commissio for Evirometal Cooperatio

2 This Strategic Pla was approved by the Parties to the North America Agreemet o Evirometal Cooperatio. Commissio for Evirometal Cooperatio 393, rue St-Jacques Ouest, Bureau 200 Motréal (Québec) Caada H2Y 1N9 t (514) f (514) ifo@cec.org /

3 Strategic Pla of the Commissio for Evirometal Cooperatio July 2015

4 Climate Chage Mitigatio ad Adaptatio

5 Our missio To facilitate cooperatio ad public participatio to foster coservatio, protectio ad ehacemet of the North America eviromet for the beefit of preset ad future geeratios, i the cotext of icreasig ecoomic, trade ad social liks amog Caada, Mexico ad the Uited States

6 Gree Growth

7 Table of Cotets I. Itroductio 1 A. The North America Agreemet o Evirometal Cooperatio 1 B. The Commissio for Evirometal Cooperatio 1 II. The Value of North America Cooperatio Uder the CEC 3 III. CEC Priorities for A. Strategic Priorities 5 1. Climate Chage Mitigatio ad Adaptatio 7 2. Gree Growth 8 3. Sustaiable Commuities ad Ecosystems 9 B. Cross-cuttig Themes 10 C. Public Outreach, Stakeholder Egagemet ad Commuicatios 10 North America Partership for Evirometal Commuity Actio (NAPECA) 11 Submissios o Eforcemet Matters 11 D. Performace Measuremet 12 IV. Coclusio 13

8 Sustaiable Commuities ad Ecosystems

9 I. Itroductio A. The North America Agreemet o Evirometal Cooperatio The North America eviromet is as diverse as the people who populate it. Through moutais, deserts, arctic tudra, forests, prairies, wetlads, lakes, rivers ad coastlies ad the species that ihabit them, North America s complex ecosystems are essetial for our way of life ad our cultures, our well-beig, ad our ecoomies. Whe the leaders of Caada, Mexico, ad the Uited States adopted the North America Free Trade Agreemet (NAFTA), they created oe of the largest tradig blocks i the world. Recogizig the importace of protectig this richly diverse eviromet for our commuities ad for future geeratios, the North America leaders also put i place the North America Agreemet o Evirometal Cooperatio ( NAAEC, or the Agreemet ) to esure that the icreased levels of commerce ad ecoomic activity would ot come at the expese of our eviromet. B. The Commissio for Evirometal Cooperatio Buildig o a rich history of bilateral cooperatio o the eviromet amog the three North America coutries, NAAEC provided for the establishmet of the Commissio for Evirometal Cooperatio (CEC), the first collaborative, trilateral veue promotig a cooperative approach to evirometal protectio i the regio, icludig for the effective eforcemet of our laws. Through this uique partership that is the CEC, the govermets of Caada, Mexico ad the Uited States ( the Parties ), as well as civil society across North America, work together to pursue evirometal objectives that are greater tha the sum of ay idividual efforts. 1

10 The CEC is composed of the Coucil, a Secretariat ad a Joit Public Advisory Committee (JPAC), which work for the beefit of effective regioal collaboratio amog the NAAEC Parties o the eviromet: The Coucil is the CEC s goverig body ad comprises cabiet-level or equivalet represetatives of each coutry. It approves ad oversees the implemetatio of a trilateral work program by officials ad experts of each of the three Parties. It also holds a aual public meetig. The Secretariat provides techical, admiistrative ad operatioal support to Coucil ad carries out the work i respose to priorities idetified by Coucil to support its experts activities. JPAC, composed of five citize voluteers from each coutry, may advise the Coucil o ay matter withi the scope of the Agreemet or its implemetatio ad further elaboratio. It may also perform other fuctios as the Coucil may direct. Through its variety of programs ad activities, icludig govermet-to-govermet collaboratio, stakeholder egagemet ad public educatio, the CEC has provided a uique forum to address regioal evirometal issues. 2 Strategic Pla of the Commissio for Evirometal Cooperatio

11 II. The Value of North America Cooperatio Uder the CEC NAAEC implemetatio over the last twety years has bee a uique likig of evirometal cocers to the deepeed trade relatios committed to uder NAFTA. The Agreemet was meat to esure that evirometal cosideratios ad cooperatio efforts would take place i the trade ad ecoomic cofiguratio evisioed for North America. Today, we cotiue to beefit from this uique partership o domestic, regioal, ad global scales. Specifically, the creatio of the CEC has provided the three North America govermets with: a forum that allows the three Miisters to meet ad discuss trilateral evirometal issues; a forum for ehaced cooperatio o shared evirometal issues; a model for regioal dialogue that covees experts to provide recommedatios, develop iovative tools ad traiig, ad promote best practices; opportuities for iformatio sharig ad capacity buildig to address evirometal issues of commo cocer; a veue to focus o emergig issues, as well as test ew scietific areas from blue carbo to clea eergy to sustaiable commuities; a vehicle through which to address evirometal issues ad develop cocrete solutios, icludig the establishmet of a North America Pollutat Release ad Trasfer Registry, a actio pla to reduce or elimiate the use of toxic chemicals such as lidae, ad the creatio of a multiligual olie traier o maagig hazardous waste i our regio; a process to support public submissios o evirometal matters that is a model of accoutability ad public trasparecy i North America; ad a uique orgaizatio i North America, with a permaet Secretariat with full-time staff ad a dedicated budget. 3

12 The eviromet is a critical part of the coversatio o ecoomic ad social developmet. The CEC cotiues to play a importat role i regularly addressig key trade ad eviromet issues that coect our three coutries, icludig those issues related to trasportatio, trasborder movemet of pollutats, trade i wildlife species, ad hazardous waste maagemet. I addressig these issues trilaterally, our govermets recogize that may evirometal cocers have o borders. I additio, work through the CEC adds value to domestic actios ad creates efficiecies i govermet by brigig together officials to share expertise, best practices, ad kowledge; stregthes each coutry s capacity to fid iovative ad techological solutios; ehaces the aligmet of evirometal stadards; ad examies the practical implicatios of emergig scietific areas. With a coordiated focus o evirometal protectio i the three coutries, the CEC is also istrumetal i facilitatig trilateral dialogue ad cooperatio, icludig at the miisterial level, to advace ideas o emergig matters ad discuss trasatioal issues. I additio, the CEC provides a forum for public egagemet o the eviromet ad makig a differece i local commuities ad ecosystems. It also helps esure aligmet of North America goals with iteratioal commitmets. For example, Caada, Mexico ad the Uited States are actively ivolved i elimiatig the presece of short-lived climate pollutats (methae, black carbo, ad hydrofluorocarbos) through the Climate ad Clea Air Coalitio (CCAC), ad with hydrofluorocarbos, i particular, through work with parter sigatories to the Motreal Protocol. Our three coutries will cotiue to seek opportuities for the CEC to broade the reach of these commitmets ad give greater depth i the North America cotext. 4 Strategic Pla of the Commissio for Evirometal Cooperatio

13 III. CEC Priorities for The past 20 years of positive cooperatio have reiforced our commitmet to cotiue to work together to meet our shared objectives. I order to esure that the future of North America evirometal cooperatio cotiues to geerate positive results, the Coucil provides guidace ad directio, which allows the trilateral partership supported through the CEC to remai relevat ad adaptable to chagig realities, icludig creatig opportuities for public egagemet ad outreach by JPAC. The CEC Coucil members met i July 2014 to mark NAAEC s 20 th aiversary ad to set the CEC s directio for the ext five years. By aoucig strategic priorities for the orgaizatio, ad three cross-cuttig themes, Coucil members provided the broad parameters withi which the CEC s work will be developed ad implemeted to complemet importat iitiatives take by each of our govermets domestically ad iteratioally. I aoucig these priorities, i lie with the commitmets made by the North America leaders i 2014, Coucil members also reiterated CEC s importace as a value-added orgaizatio. A. Strategic Priorities The Coucil has focused this five-year Strategic Pla o what it cosiders to be some of the most urget evirometal issues we must cofrot through 2020 ad that build upo priorities idetified i the previous Strategic Pla. These iclude: Workig to improve coditios i vulerable commuities by sharig ad icreasig access to iformatio, such as expadig the AirNow moitorig system to Mexico. Developig guidelies for desigig marie protected area etworks i a chagig climate. Ehacig the eforcemet of evirometal laws to improve the maagemet of electroic waste ad spet lead-acid batteries, ad share iformatio o the illegal trade of wildlife. Improvig the comparability of data related to climate chage. Workig with the private sector to improve evirometal performace i gree buildig costructio; the trasportatio sector; ad emissios from maritime trasportatio. 5

14 The ew priorities are pressig evirometal challeges that require cotiued coordiatio i regioal ad iteratioal respose. The Coucil edorsed a ew focus o cross-cuttig themes i the strategic priorities, takig ito accout global, regioal ad local challeges, emergig issues ad commo goals, as well as iput from our stakeholders. Thus the strategic priorities for the Strategic Pla are: Climate Chage Mitigatio ad Adaptatio Gree Growth Sustaiable Commuities ad Ecosystems Each strategic priority icludes proposed goals to be attaied over the ext five years that will build o recet projects that stregthe cooperatio to tackle climate chage, support gree growth, ad share kowledge for assessig, improvig ad restorig commuities ad ecosystems. These priorities also reflect the CEC s support of iovative approaches to kowledge-gatherig o the eviromet. For , this icludes learig from ad assistig local ad idigeous commuities to make effective evirometal maagemet decisios. Commissio for Evirometal Cooperatio Strategic Priorities ad Cross-cuttig Themes, CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION AND ADAPTATION GREEN GROWTH SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES AND ECOSYSTEMS Learig from ad assistig vulerable groups ad local ad idigeous commuities Short-lived Climate Pollutats Trasportatio Priority Species ad Ecosystems Ehacig the aligmet of evirometal regulatory stadards, eforcemet ad compliace Blue Carbo (Marie ad Coastal Ecosystems) Clea Eergy (Sustaiable Buildig ad Eergy Efficiecy) Ladscapes ad Seascapes Ehacig iformatio sharig, trasparecy, capacity buildig ad commuicatio Sustaiable Productio ad Cosumptio (SPC) Sustaiable Commuities ad Urba Iitiatives 6 Strategic Pla of the Commissio for Evirometal Cooperatio

15 1. Climate Chage Mitigatio ad Adaptatio As metioed above, Coucil recogizes the ogoig evirometal challege posed by climate chage at the global, regioal, ad local levels. May effects of climate chage are already evidet ad have adversely affected vulerable commuities ad ecosystems. As well, ecoomic damage from severe weather is icreasig i North America. Therefore, it is importat to address climate chage through mitigatio ad adaptatio measures. Midful of the cotiued impacts of climate chage, the focus of the CEC s pla will be o explorig mitigatio ad adaptatio measures that will ehace our atioal efforts, cotribute to iteratioal commitmets, ad support emergig scietific areas. I recogitio that adaptatio cocers are best addressed i tadem with actios to lower greehouse gas emissios, the three North America govermets will cotiue to act idepedetly ad iteratioally to reduce the emissios that cause climate chage, as we work through the CEC to icrease our efforts to prepare for or adjust to future climate chages. The objectives for the work uder this strategic priority are to miimize threats posed by climate chage by takig actios to pla for ad implemet climate chage adaptatio ad mitigatio measures that will protect huma health ad the eviromet from the effects of climate chage. Iitiatives uder this priority iclude: Developig, comparig, ad implemetig greehouse gas (GHG) emissios mitigatio actios, cosistet with iteratioal commitmets. Pilotig protocols i key sectors, like waste maagemet, the food idustry, ad trasportatio, to reduce emissios of short-lived climate pollutats, such as black carbo ad methae. Icreasig the adaptive capacity of vulerable populatios to adverse evirometal health effects from extreme climatic evets. Improvig scietific kowledge to coserve ad restore coastal ad marie blue carbo. 7

16 2. Gree Growth Although a umber of defiitios exist, at heart gree growth is ecoomic growth that is evirometally sustaiable, ad promotig gree growth implies both opportuities ad risks. For example, as we reduce or chage the use of atural resources, miimize waste, or develop ew evirometally friedly products ad services, the demad for such products ad services could icrease (potetial ecoomic growth), which would decrease the pressure o atural resources ad result i the opportuity to create ew, more sustaiable patters of developmet. As well, the mismaagemet of atural resources could preset risks to ecoomic growth, with icreasigly umaageable pressure o differet segmets of our global ecoomy. Through the CEC, the three coutries will cotiue to support opportuities for iovatio i gree growth that ecourage evirometally resposible ecoomic developmet i such key North America sectors as trasportatio, where such iovatio would ot oly ehace competitiveess but also icrease eergy efficiecy. This greater efficiecy could halve the icreased demad for global eergy that is projected for The objectives for the work uder this strategic priority are to idetify steps to reduce emissios from the trasportatio sector; to provide maagemet systems optios that will explore clea eergy techologies ad icrease eergy efficiecy; to explore alteratives for addressig waste reductio ad recyclig, icludig the diversio of orgaic waste from ladfills; ad to develop iformatio ad tools i support of sustaiable cosumptio ad productio. Iitiatives uder this priority could iclude: Establishig best practices to promote iovative techologies ad measures for clea ad efficiet trasportatio, icludig the establishmet of a Emissios Cotrol Area (ECA) throughout North America. Promotig ad sharig with key stakeholders beeficial practices for improvig eergy efficiecy. Ehacig the maagemet ad sustaiable use of chemicals i products. Improvig the reliability of trade data o products cotaiig evirometally regulated substaces. 8 Strategic Pla of the Commissio for Evirometal Cooperatio

17 3. Sustaiable Commuities ad Ecosystems The evirometal ad ecoomic well-beig of the citizes of North America is grouded i healthy commuities ad ecosystems. The Parties will work through the CEC to support efforts that will esure safe commuities ad ecosystems through risk assessmet/risk maagemet strategies coverig the full rage of ecosystem stressors while also protectig huma health. The priority is to prevet pollutio before it occurs ad, eve whe that is ot possible, reduce the toxicity ad quatity of waste ad icrease recyclig. By meetig sustaiable commuity ad ecosystem goals via pollutio prevetio, risk maagemet ad remediatio strategies, icludig via urba-related iitiatives, Coucil hopes to ecourage iovatio ad developmet of state-of-the-art techologies, which ca i tur stimulate local ecoomies ad reduce exposure to toxics. Such efforts ca traslate ito decreased health care costs, such as for treatmet of asthma-related illesses. Decreases i the amout ad toxicity of waste, as well as icreased use of geetically egieered orgaisms, ca avoid cotamiatio of water ad soil, prevet loss of wildlife, ad icrease the recreatioal value of the atural eviromet. The objectives for work uder this strategic priority are to maitai efforts to improve ad restore the itegrity of ecosystems, ladscapes ad seascapes; to coserve priority species; ad to ehace rural ad urba eviromets by workig closely with commuities. Iitiatives uder this priority could iclude: Supportig the establishmet of collaborative etworks, icludig amog local ad idigeous commuities, to share traditioal ecological kowledge ad experiece. Udertakig coservatio actios to protect ad restore ecosystems ad species of commo coservatio cocer. Coordiatig maagemet processes ad idetifyig beeficial practices at site ad at ladscape ad seascape levels. Icreasig the awareess, egagemet ad capacity of commuities i rural ad urba areas i the maagemet ad sustaiable use of atural resources. 9

18 B. Cross-cuttig Themes The Coucil has also agreed to icorporate three cross-cuttig themes that reflect issues relevat to the CEC s strategic priorities ad that will further focus CEC work. These cross-cuttig themes will also help geerate likages betwee program activities, ehace the CEC s capacity to reach out to key stakeholders, ad commuicate the value of regioal cooperatio o evirometal issues. The themes are: Learig from ad assistig vulerable groups ad local ad idigeous commuities Ehacig the aligmet of evirometal regulatory stadards, eforcemet ad compliace Ehacig iformatio sharig, trasparecy, capacity buildig ad commuicatio These cross-cuttig themes represet policy tools that will help the three coutries address the strategic priorities ad meet the goals set forward by the Coucil. For the first time, local ad Traditioal Ecological Kowledge (TEK) will be itegrated, where appropriate, ito CEC iitiatives. I additio, by aligig evirometal regulatory stadards, the three coutries will collaborate o ehacig the eforcemet of evirometal laws. Lastly, the CEC will cotiue to embrace ew techologies ad platforms to gather, share, ad dissemiate iformatio produced through this cooperative effort. Over the course of the five years of this Strategic Pla, the CEC will also reflect these themes i its ogoig project work ad i its public outreach ad stakeholder egagemet activities. C. Public Outreach, Stakeholder Egagemet ad Commuicatios Efforts will be made to icrease public awareess of the orgaizatio s accomplishmets ad ehace public egagemet i its ogoig iitiatives. I this regard, the Coucil has directed the CEC to improve ad broade its strategic commuicatios efforts. A key goal is to promote the orgaizatio as a forum that offers the Parties ad its stakeholders, civil society, commuities, academia, ad the private sector a rage of opportuities (through JPAC, domestic advisory committees, public forums, Coucil Sessios, ad webiars) to share ideas ad to collaborate o evirometal issues i North America. 10 Strategic Pla of the Commissio for Evirometal Cooperatio

19 Stakeholder outreach will seek to raise public awareess of the value the CEC adds domestically ad across North America i stregtheig evirometal stewardship ad supportig the orgaizatio s role i fosterig emergig evirometal sciece. This icludes a focus o ehacig the egagemet of opiio leaders ad the wider public i outreach activities led by JPAC that cotribute to the trasparecy ad relevace of the CEC i advacig ogoig iitiatives ad i cotributig to the kowledge base o North America evirometal matters. The CEC will cotiue to work with key stakeholders to ehace the impact of govermet-to-govermet activities ad commuity-led projects. North America Partership for Evirometal Commuity Actio (NAPECA) I promotig a sese of shared resposibility ad stewardship for the eviromet, parterig ad egagig with stakeholders ad the public is a itegral part of the Coucil s log-term strategic pla. Trilateral iitiatives are complemeted through grat support to commuity-based projects uder the North America Partership for Evirometal Commuity Actio (NAPECA). The NAPECA grat program was established by the Coucil i 2009 to address evirometal challeges at the commuity level. Sice its iceptio, a series of NAPECA commuity-based projects have yielded cocrete results ad beefits o a broad rage of issues i all three coutries. Examples iclude: Sol ot Coal, based i the US i orther New Mexico, implemets four solar eergy projects for oprofit orgaizatios i that area. Escuela del Agua, i the State of Mexico, worked with households to promote the use of a low-tech water purificatio system i gardes. The Adopt a Racher project i Caada is creatig awareess amog studets, teachers ad school commuities about the valuable role that rachig ca play i sustaiig ative prairie ecosystems. Submissios o Eforcemet Matters The CEC will cotiue to advace public uderstadig of the Submissios o Eforcemet Matters (SEM) process, which allows North America residets to share their cocers o the effective eforcemet of evirometal laws. The Parties have istructed the Secretariat to make the factual records more accessible to the public by makig them shorter ad more cocise, movig away from the legalized writig style, ad geerally makig them easier for o-lawyers to read ad uderstad. The Secretariat will prepare PowerPoit presetatios to guide the public to better uderstadig the SEM process. I additio, outreach efforts throughout North America will be expaded. 11

20 D. Performace Measuremet The Coucil is committed to effectively measurig CEC achievemets ad commuicatig them to our govermets ad citizes. This requires demostratig progress i meetig our evirometal goals ad objectives across North America, ad showig how these achievemets help the Parties meet their domestic ad iteratioal commitmets. The Coucil has directed the CEC Secretariat to stregthe its ability to measure performace. The Strategic Pla provides the foudatio for the CEC s performace measuremet framework, which establishes a process to evaluate progress i attaiig the goals ad objectives of each strategic priority, while addressig the three cross-cuttig themes. The three coutries will egage i various iitiatives uder each strategic priority, as described i this Strategic Pla, ad will implemet, through bieial operatioal plas, a set of projects leadig to cocrete results. Project success is vital to supportig the Coucil s strategic priorities. To report o progress towards achievig the five-year goals ad objectives set out i this pla, project-specific performace measures are reported upo project completio every two years. The performace measures iclude clear targets ad reportig periods for each project outcome, usig a SMART (specific, measureable, achievable, relevat ad time-boud) approach. These measures assess the log-term project outcomes (i.e., by the ed of projects), which esures the success of various iitiatives ad cotribute to the attaimet of strategic priorities. The CEC s performace measuremet framework esures that project-level measures udertake through our trilateral cooperative work program are tied to the goals ad objectives of this Strategic Pla, as set forth uder each strategic priority ad cross-cuttig theme approved by the Coucil, ad cotribute to meetig them. These measures for the goals ad objectives will be reported o a bieial basis, as well as by the ed of this Strategic Pla. Orgaizatioal-level measures are also i place to evaluate the CEC s overall performace, icludig the performace of the Submissios o Eforcemet Matters (SEM) uit, the North America Partership for Evirometal Commuity Actio (NAPECA) grat program, as well as of outreach, publicatios, ad admiistrative activities. These orgaizatioal-level measures will be described i aual reports ad other outreach materials. 12 Strategic Pla of the Commissio for Evirometal Cooperatio

21 IV. Coclusio The Strategic Pla represets a reewed commitmet o the part of the three NAAEC Parties to coserve, protect, ad ehace the North America eviromet by providig resources, expertise ad directio through the CEC over the ext five years. Our reewed efforts will esure that the three coutries of North America will cotiue to work together, complemetig our efforts domestically ad iteratioally, as we committed to more tha 20 years ago, i order to beefit the citizes ad the eviromet of all North America. 13

22

23

24 CEC Priorities for Climate Chage Mitigatio ad Adaptatio 2. Gree Growth 3. Sustaiable Commuities ad Ecosystems Commissio for Evirometal Cooperatio 393, rue St-Jacques Ouest, Bureau 200 Motréal (Québec) Caada H2Y 1N9 t (514) f (514) ifo@cec.org /