Canada, Mexico and the United States Show Progress on North American Energy Collaboration

SAN FRANCISCO, CA, June 3, 2016 /CNW/ - In support of the objectives of the 7th Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM) and inaugural Mission Innovation Ministerial in San Francisco, the Honourable Jim Carr, Canada's Minister of Natural Resources, Pedro Joaquín Coldwell, Mexico's Secretary of Energy, and Dr. Ernest Moniz, United States' Secretary of Energy, reviewed their cooperative efforts underway to foster sustainable energy development, address climate change, and encourage economic growth.

The Clean Energy Ministerial and first official Mission Innovation Ministerial come just over one hundred days after Secretary Moniz, Minister Carr, and Secretary Joaquín Coldwell met in Winnipeg and signed the Memorandum of Understanding Concerning Climate Change and Energy Collaboration. The meetings in San Francisco provide an opportunity to recognize the collective progress made to date by our three countries in advancing our mutual clean energy and climate objectives, including:

• Accelerating investments in clean energy research and development by announcing each of our countries' plans for doubling these investments over the next five years, as part of the Mission Innovation initiative.
• Identifying shared North American priorities for collaboration on clean energy innovation technologies.
• Advancing North American economic competitiveness by recruiting companies to implement the ISO 50001 standard to improve energy efficiency in industry. As part of CEM's Energy Management Campaign our countries will provide companies with the tools and training resources to facilitate implementation of the standard.
• Launching the North American Renewable Integration Study to better understand the planning and operational impacts of integrating growing renewable energy sources, such as solar, hydro and wind, into our electricity grids.
• Further advancing clean energy, energy innovation, and the shift towards a low-carbon economy by continuing their support for the CEM Clean Energy Solutions Center (including RETScreen services, a multi-language software used globally to evaluate energy costs, savings, and emissions), and the CEM7 Technology Showcase.

This work by Mexico, the United States and Canada will also support the upcoming North American Leaders' Summit in Ottawa on June 29. The three countries share a common vision of accelerating clean energy development to address climate change and energy security. Working together to advance clean growth by building on North America's strengths as a global energy leader is essential as we transition towards a low carbon economy.

Quotes

"I am pleased to see our three countries continue to make progress following the North American Energy Ministers Meeting hosted in Winnipeg in early February. Our work to advance a continental approach to energy collaboration is an essential building block as Canada prepares to host the North American Leaders' Summit in Ottawa."
Jim Carr
Canada's Minister of Natural Resources

"We are enthusiastic to see how the progress in our trilateral energy cooperation translates into specific actions and results within the context of the CEM7 and Mission Innovation ministerial meetings in San Francisco, as key global mechanisms for the implementation of our clean energy and sustainability objectives. Mexico has highly benefited from CEM's renewed platform since we hosted the ministerial in Merida last year, as part of the implementation of our energy reform and commitment for expanding clean technologies."
Pedro Joaquín Coldwell
Mexico's Secretary of Energy

"Trilateral energy cooperation between the United States, Canada, and Mexico is crucial to advancing our energy security and growing low-carbon economies," said U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz.  "Today's announcement by the North American energy ministers demonstrates our collective support for CEM7 and Mission Innovation as tools to implement our countries' commitments made in Paris to combat climate change by developing and deploying clean energy technologies."
Dr. Ernest Moniz
United States Secretary of Energy

Related Products
Backgrounders:

• North American Collaboration
• RETScreen Software
• ISO50001 standards

Associated Links

• Mission Innovation
• Clean Energy Solutions Center

SOURCE Natural Resources Canada

Image with caption: "Mexican Secretary of Energy, Pedro Joaquín Coldwell, U.S. Secretary of Energy, Dr. Ernest Moniz, and Canada’s Minister of Natural Resources, Jim Carr, meet during the Clean Energy Ministerial in San Francisco on June 1, 2016, to discuss progress on North American energy collaboration. (CNW Group/Natural Resources Canada)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20160603_C8563_PHOTO_EN_705884.jpg

Canada: Laurel Munroe, Director of Communications, Office of the Minister of Natural Resources, 343-292-6837; Media Relations, Natural Resources Canada, Ottawa, 343-292-6100; Mexico: Víctor Avilés Castro, Director General of Social Communication, Mexican Ministry of Energy, [email protected], [phone] ext. 1016; Mariana León Ochoa, Press Office, Mexican Ministry of Energy, [email protected], [phone] ext. 2020; United States: Andrew Gumbiner, Office of Public Affairs, U.S. Department of Energy, 202-586-4940