Environmental and Public Interest Considerations in NAFTA renegotiation

This briefing by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) provides recommendations for integrating environmental and public interest protections into the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The author argues that the new agreement should move beyond the 'soft legal obligations' of recent mega-regional deals like CETA and the TPP, instead strengthening the legacy of the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC) to ensure trade liberalization aligns with sustainable development.

• The author suggests that the renegotiated NAFTA should explicitly define water as a non-commodity and protect the right of governments to regulate water as a public service. To prevent private sector interpretations in investment disputes, the author recommends integrating protections—similar to those in CETA's Joint Interpretative Instrument—directly into the legal text of the new NAFTA.
• The submissions on enforcement matters (SEM) process of the NAAEC is identified as a unique tool for environmental accountability that should be strengthened rather than eliminated. The author warns that replacing this supranational mechanism with the domestic-level consultation processes found in CETA or the TPP would severely limit the ability of the North American public to demand environmental law enforcement.
• The document argues that state-to-state dispute systems for environmental law enforcement are largely symbolic and ineffective because states rarely bring disputes against one another. The author proposes that the new NAFTA should allow non-state civil society actors to access these dispute resolution mechanisms to ensure they are not 'merely textual'.
• The author recommends renewing the mandate of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) to serve as a forum for regulatory cooperation and scientific research. Proposed new functions for the CEC include calculating carbon border adjustments, monitoring black carbon and methane emissions, and tracking sustainable trade in timber and fisheries.
• The briefing notes that while Canada and the U.S. have expressed a desire to integrate environmental provisions directly into the trade agreement rather than using a side agreement, there is significant uncertainty regarding which parts of the NAAEC will be retained.
• The author asserts that the NAFTA investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanism requires substantial reform to avoid threatening public health and the environment. Specifically, the author calls for greater diversity in the knowledge systems of arbitral appointments and increased engagement for civil society.

APA

International Institute for Sustainable Development (n.d.). Environmental and Public Interest Considerations in NAFTA renegotiation. https://www.iisd.org/sites/default/files/publications/environmental-public-interest-nafta-renegotiations.pdf

Chicago

International Institute for Sustainable Development. Environmental and Public Interest Considerations in NAFTA renegotiation. n.d. https://www.iisd.org/sites/default/files/publications/environmental-public-interest-nafta-renegotiations.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=International Institute for Sustainable Development |title=Environmental and Public Interest Considerations in NAFTA renegotiation |url=https://www.iisd.org/sites/default/files/publications/environmental-public-interest-nafta-renegotiations.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{internationalinstituteforsustainabledevelopmentndenvironmental, author = {{International Institute for Sustainable Development}}, title = {{Environmental and Public Interest Considerations in NAFTA renegotiation}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, url = {https://www.iisd.org/sites/default/files/publications/environmental-public-interest-nafta-renegotiations.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }