The United States, Canada and Mexico earlier this week agreed to create the North American Energy Ministers’ Working Group on Climate Change and Energy.
The joint announcement was made at the third official meeting of North American energy leaders in Mérida, Mexico, by Greg Rickford, Canada’s Minister of Natural Resources; Ernest Moniz, U.S. Secretary of Energy; and Pedro Joaquin-Coldwell, Mexico Secretary of Energy.
The three countries will collaborate in the areas of reliable, resilient and low-carbon electricity grids; the modelling and deployment of clean energy technologies, including renewables; energy efficiency for equipment, appliances, industries and buildings, including energy management systems; carbon capture, use and storage; climate change adaptation and resilience; and emissions from the oil and gas sector, including methane and black carbon.
This partnership builds on the cooperative effort announced at the ministers’ first meeting in December in Washington D.C. At that meeting, they signed a memorandum of understanding formalizing trilateral cooperation with the goal of attaining North American energy security.
Rickford said Canada is a secure, reliable and responsible producer and supplier of energy to the world, and is firmly committed to a continental approach on energy and the environment.
“North America has deeply integrated economies, abundant reserves, shared critical infrastructure and common values that underpin our long, productive history of collaboration,” Rickford said. “The North American Free Trade Agreement is a good example of the integrated nature of our economy. By cooperating with our North American partners, we are enhancing energy security and the environment while strengthening jobs and the economy.”
