Joint Public Advisory Meeting: NAFTA at 20

Scott Vaughan argues that while NAFTA did not cause a widespread 'race to the bottom' in environmental standards, the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) has lost relevance. He suggests the CEC pivot from the trade-environment debate toward a cooperation agenda focused on North American energy and climate integration, cumulative environmental impact assessments, and the improvement of comparable environmental data.

• Research conducted by organizations including the OECD, World Bank, and WTO generally found that NAFTA did not lead to the creation of pollution havens or a systemic weakening of domestic environmental regulations, although specific instances of increased pollution occurred.
• The Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) has experienced a decline in relevance over the last decade or more, evidenced by budget cuts, vacancies in JPAC membership, fewer Citizen Submissions under Article 14, and low attendance at public meetings.
• The author proposes three strategic opportunities for the CEC to regain relevance: analyzing climate mitigation across 70 federal and sub-federal jurisdictions in North America as energy markets integrate, developing approaches for cumulative environmental impact assessments, and improving the quality and comparability of environmental data using the European Environmental Agency as a model.

APA

Vaughan, S. (2013). Joint Public Advisory Meeting: NAFTA at 20. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/NAFTA_at_20_speech.pdf

Chicago

Vaughan, Scott. Joint Public Advisory Meeting: NAFTA at 20. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2013. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/NAFTA_at_20_speech.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Vaughan |first1=Scott |title=Joint Public Advisory Meeting: NAFTA at 20 |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=2013 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/NAFTA_at_20_speech.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{vaughan2013joint, author = {Vaughan, Scott}, title = {{Joint Public Advisory Meeting: NAFTA at 20}}, publisher = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2013}, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/NAFTA_at_20_speech.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }