North America's Environment ministers issue statement

North America's top environment ministers underline the important role communities play in sustainability efforts

2012-07-13

(Press-News.org) New Orleans, 11 July 2012— With the conclusion of a successful meeting of the Council of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) on Community and Ecosystem Resilience in North America, North America's environment ministers Administrator Jackson, Minister Kent and Secretary Elvira, announced the modernization of the Submission on Enforcement Matters Process, a strengthened commitment to initiatives to Green the North American Economy, and a continued focus on streamlining the cooperative work program of the CEC.

Council welcomed dynamic participation from universities, community groups and government officials from Canada, Mexico and the United States at this year's annual meeting of Council in New Orleans, who are working to build resiliency to their changing environment and ecosystems.

Over the last two days the ministers spoke to participants that included both the mayor of New Orleans, Louisiana and Iqaluit, Nunavut; public health professionals from Alaska, United States and Lake Chapala, Mexico; and conservationists from Culiacán, Mexico and Saskatchewan, Canada.

To read full statement click here.

For full details on the 19th regular session of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) Council click here.

Joint Public Advisory Committee shares findings on building resilient communities

Prior to the Council Session, the CEC's Joint Public Advisory Committee (JPAC) held a two-day workshop on Resilient Communities in North America. At this meeting, the JPAC introduced a new format where every person in the room was given a say in the final report Resilient Future: Voices of North Americans on Policy and Action. JPAC Chair Martín Gutiérrez Lacayo said, "from business executives to residents of low income minority communities near chemical plants facing severe environmental justice challenges, all participants were considered experts on the important issue of resilience." The report was presented to the CEC Council on July 11. To read the JPAC report (PDF) click here.

The Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) is an intergovernmental organization that supports the cooperative environmental agenda of Canada, Mexico and the United States to green North America's economy, address climate change through promoting a low-carbon economy and protect its environment and the health of its citizens. The CEC is composed of three bodies: a Council representing the governments of the three member countries, a Joint Public Advisory Committee (JPAC) that advises the Council and serves as a liaison with the public, and a Secretariat that provides supports the Council and the JPAC and prepares independent reports. The CEC brings together governments, civil society, and businesses to develop innovative North American solutions to global environmental challenges. Find out more at: www.cec.org

The Council, the CEC's governing body, is composed of the federal environment ministers (or equivalent) of the three countries, and meets at least once a year. The Council members are Canadian Environment Minister Peter Kent, Mexican Secretary for Environment and Natural Resources, Juan Rafael Elvira Quesada, and US Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa P. Jackson

###This event was undertaken with the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Federal Department of Environment, the Government of the United States of America through the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Government of the United States of Mexico, through the Secretaría de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales.

For more information:

Megan Ainscow
Communications Coordinator
Commission for Environmental Cooperation
mainscow@cec.org
438-827-8588

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Helping family is key for social birds

2012-07-13

Social birds that forgo breeding to help to raise the offspring of other group members are far more likely care for their own close relatives than for more distant kin, a new study has found. The study, which looked at a highly social species from outback Australia, the chestnut-crowned babbler, also found that these birds work much harder to care for their brothers and sisters than the young of less-related group members. The findings, published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, provide new insights into understanding why some individuals cooperate with ...

Period drama! Australian research criticizes Hollywood portrayals of menstruation

2012-07-13

An Australian study has criticized Hollywood's portrayal of menstruation, warning it's misinforming young girls and portraying periods as overly traumatic and humiliating. Researcher Dr Lauren Rosewarne, from the University's School of Social and Political Sciences, has analyzed hundreds of representations of menstruation in film and television. "The presentation of menstruation on screen is an overwhelmingly negative one," she said. The analysis included jokes, plotlines and references from popular TV shows such as The Big Bang Theory, Mad Men, Friends and Grey's ...

New Au. sediba fossils discovered in rock

2012-07-13

VIDEO: This video shows a reconstructed skull -- revised parts put together with endocast and transparent cranium. Click here for more information. South African scientists will share the country's latest fossil discovery with the world using live virtual technology. Scientists from the Wits Institute for Human Evolution based at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg will announce the discovery of a large rock containing significant parts of a skeleton of ...

University of Utah physicists invent 'spintronic' LED

2012-07-13

SALT LAKE CITY, July 12, 2012 – University of Utah physicists invented a new "spintronic" organic light-emitting diode or OLED that promises to be brighter, cheaper and more environmentally friendly than the kinds of LEDs now used in television and computer displays, lighting, traffic lights and numerous electronic devices. "It's a completely different technology," says Z. Valy Vardeny, University of Utah distinguished professor of physics and senior author of a study of the new OLEDs in the July 13, 2012 issue of the journal Science. "These new organic LEDs can be brighter ...

Paisley Caves yield 13,000-year old Western Stemmed points, more human DNA

2012-07-13

EUGENE, Ore. -- (July 12, 2012) -- Archaeological work in Oregon's Paisley Caves has found evidence that Western Stemmed projectile points -- darts or thrusting spearheads -- were present at least 13,200 calendar years ago during or before the Clovis culture in western North America. In a paper in the July 13 issue of Science, researchers from 13 institutions lay out their findings, which also include substantial new documentation, including "blind-test analysis" by independent labs, that confirms the human DNA pulled earlier from human coprolites (dried feces) and reported ...

Male sex ornaments are fishing lures, literally

2012-07-13

Talk about a bait-and-switch. Male representatives of the tropical fish known as swordtail characins have flag-like sex ornaments that catch mates just like the bait on a fishing rod would. What's more, a study reported online on July 12 in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication, shows just what any good fly-fisherman would know: Lures work best if they mimic the foods that fish most often eat. For some characins in the study, that means males are waving pretend ants around in hopes of getting a bite. "This is a natural example of a fishing lure designed to maximize ...

Sake, soy sauce, and the taming of the microbes

2012-07-13

We all know that humans have domesticated plants and animals for our sustenance and enjoyment, but we've tamed various microbes as well. Now researchers reporting online on July 12 in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication, show that the mark of that domestication on microbes, and specifically on the mold used for thousands of years to brew sake and soy sauce from rice and soybeans, looks rather unique. While changes brought by domestication to plants and animals have rested largely on exaggerating physical traits, changes to microbes have occurred instead via extensive ...

In adult humans, brown fat is actually beige

2012-07-13

The calorie-burning and heat-generating brown fat found in full-grown humans is actually not quite brown; it's beige. So says a new study reported on July 12th in the journal Cell, a Cell Press publication, in which researchers fully characterize this promising obesity-fighting tissue in both mice and humans for the first time. The findings could lead to more specific ways to address the epidemic of obesity and diabetes by giving those beige fat cells a boost, the researchers say. "We've identified a third type of fat cell," said Bruce Spiegelman of Harvard Medical ...

The challenges facing the vulnerable Antarctic

2012-07-13

A century ago, the South Pole was one of Earth's last frontiers, but now the Antarctic is under threat from human activity. Led by Monash University's Professor Steven Chown, a multidisciplinary team of experts from around the globe has set out the current and future conservation challenges facing the Antarctic in a Policy Forum article published today in Science. The team analysed the effectiveness of the existing Antarctic Treaty System for protecting the region, one of the world's largest commons, from the threats of climate change and, as technology improves, increasing ...

Solar system ice: Source of Earth's water

2012-07-13

Washington, DC —Scientists have long believed that comets and, or a type of very primitive meteorite called carbonaceous chondrites were the sources of early Earth's volatile elements—which include hydrogen, nitrogen, and carbon—and possibly organic material, too. Understanding where these volatiles came from is crucial for determining the origins of both water and life on the planet. New research led by Carnegie's Conel Alexander focuses on frozen water that was distributed throughout much of the early Solar System, but probably not in the materials that aggregated to ...

In a landmark study, an NYBG scientist and colleagues find that reforestation stands out among plant-based climate-mitigation strategies as most beneficial for wildlife biodiversity

RSClin® Tool N+ gives more accurate estimates of recurrence risk and individual chemotherapy benefit in node-positive breast cancer

Terahertz pulses induce chirality in a non-chiral crystal

AI judged to be more compassionate than expert crisis responders: Study

[Press-News.org] North America's Environment ministers issue statement
North America's top environment ministers underline the important role communities play in sustainability efforts

North America's Environment ministers issue statement

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES: