Canada-Mexico Sign Joint Statement on Climate Change Cooperation During The United Nations Climate Change Conference in Canada

Montreal, December 8, 2005 - Canada and Mexico signed a Joint Statement to strengthen dialogue and cooperation on climate change today. This agreement occurred during the United Nations Climate Change Conference, the largest intergovernmental meeting on climate change to be held in recent years, and the first meeting of the Parties under the Kyoto Protocol.

The two governments committed to addressing climate change in the areas of: Clean Development Mechanism, adaptation, technology development and deployment opportunities, as well as raising public awareness about the impacts of climate change and opportunities for greenhouse gas emissions reductions.

This Joint Statement builds on the strong relationship between these two countries on environmental and sustainable development issues through existing cooperative mechanisms such as the Commission for Environmental Cooperation, the Security and Prosperity Partnership, and particularly the Canada – Mexico Partnership, and reaffirms Canada and Mexico’s commitment to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and its Kyoto Protocol.

To achieve these objectives, the Joint Statement calls for the formation of a Working Group on Climate Change that will be co-chaired by officials from the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources from Mexico (SEMARNAT) and Environment Canada and Foreign Affairs Canada. The Working Group is scheduled to complete its first workplan by May 31, 2006.

Given the importance of Mexico’s relationships with Canada and the prospects for future collaboration between the two countries, Secretary of the Environment and Natural Resources, José Luis Luege Tamargo, also announced the opening of a SEMARNAT representative office in Canada to increase opportunities for attracting investment in infrastructure and capacity development projects in the environmental sector.

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