This Agreement commits both countries to encourage high levels of domestic environmental protection, to foster good environmental governance and to promote transparency and public participation. It also creates a framework for undertaking environmental cooperative activities. The objectives of this Agreement are to: a) foster the protection and improvement of the environment in the territories and areas under the jurisdiction of the Parties for the well-being of present and future generations through domestic actions and cooperation between the Parties; b) foster sustainable development through the promotion of mutually supportive environmental and economic policies, sound environmental management, and conservation measures; c) strengthen cooperation between the Parties to achieve the objectives and obligations of this Agreement, including the development and improvement of environmental management systems; d) promote compliance with environmental law; e) promote transparency and public participation in the conservation, protection, and improvement of the environment, including in the development of environmental law and policies; f) encourage public participation in the implementation of this Agreement; and g) promote economically efficient and effective environmental measures. Some key elements of the present Agreement are: 1) Commitments to ensure high levels of environmental protection and effective enforcement of environmental laws; 2) A non-derogation clause that obligates the countries not to relax their environmental laws in order to encourage trade or investment; 3) A dispute resolution mechanism regarding obligations identified in the Agreement; 4) A commitment to maintain appropriate procedures to conduct environmental impact assessments, and allow for public participation in these procedures; 5) Provisions to ensure that interested persons can request the investigation of alleged violations of environmental laws; 6) A requirement for each country to designate a National Coordinating Officer for the Environment Agreement and establish a Committee on the Environment responsible for development and implementation of cooperative programs and activities; 7) Commitment to develop cooperative programmes and activities, subject to available resources. It is hoped that this shall result in facilitating the collaboration between Canada and Honduras on environmental priorities, aimed at strengthening environmental protection and provide effective mechanisms to raise and resolve concerns about the effective enforcement of domestic environmental laws. The text consists of 29 articles divided into 7 Parts as follows: Definition and Objectives (1); Obligations (2); National Point of Contact and Committee on the Environment (3); Accountability, Information Exchange and Procedures for Review of Obligations (4); Cooperation (5); General provisions (6); Final provisions (7).
Canada, Honduras · 2013-11-05