GLIN==> Release: Great Lakes Leaders Urge Diplomats to Include Essentials in New Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement

For immediate release

Great Lakes Leaders Urge Diplomats to Include Essentials in New Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement


September 7, 2011—On the eve of the first of the final public forums on the renegotiation of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement between the United States and Canada, Great Lakes United, a binational citizens’ coalition, is calling on the leaders of the negotiating teams to craft a bold and visionary agreement capable of guiding strategies to protect and restore the Great Lakes in the face of today’s complex environmental challenges. In a letter to the negotiating teams for each nation, the group impressed upon the negotiating teams: “the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River ecosystem is a global freshwater treasure and a living resource that millions in our two countries depend on, but the vitality and resilience of this ecosystem is increasingly threatened by multiple environmental stresses. Unless we take bold action rapidly, the Great Lakes are at real risk of irreparable ecological damage and decline.  As guardians of the lakes, the United States and Canada share a unique responsibility to safeguard nearly one-fifth of the fresh water on Earth and the living systems it supports.”  

 In June of 2010, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and then Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon stated plans to “modernize” the agreement during a ceremony on the Rainbow Bridge in Niagara Falls. At the time, Clinton noted that “new invasive species have appeared in our lakes, new worrisome chemicals have emerged from our industrial processes, our knowledge of the ecology of the region and how to protect it has grown considerably. In its current form, the Great Lakes agreement does not sufficiently address the needs of our shared ecosystem." Cannon observed: "These inland waters are the largest system of fresh surface water in the world, part of our natural heritage and the foundation for billions of dollars in trade, shipping, agriculture, recreation and other sectors." 

But to date, almost no information has been available to the public about the substance and scope of the new Agreement, making it difficult for concerned citizens to ascertain what modernization looks like, or to provide meaningful feedback in public forums scheduled on September 8 in Toronto and September 13 in Chicago. The negotiating teams have announced that all public input will close on September 20, 2011. 

Given the lack of detail, the letter to the teams highlights and reiterates what Great Lakes United and allied organizations view to be essential elements of a successful agreement that will step up to the scale of environmental threats in the lakes, and also provide governing systems, leadership and strategies to implement the Agreement. [The letter is available here.] In short, those essentials include:

A visionary strategy for the 21st Century and the scope and scale of threats we face. 
No backsliding on provisions in the 1987 version (the current version) of the Agreement.
Finish cleaning up and restoring of contaminated harbors. 
Protect each lake from headwaters to deep waters – adopt the watershed approach. 
Strengthen the independent role of the International Joint Commission (IJC). 
Commit to timelines, benchmarks, and measures for success. 
Commit to a role for the public and other key stakeholders on the proposed new binational governing body for the Agreement and other key committees. 
Commit to science leadership and reinvigorating Great Lakes science capacity 
Commit to accountability measures. 
Rebuild the binational constituency for Great Lakes protection. 
Commit to providing the money and staffing that will make implementation possible.
According to John Jackson of Great Lakes United, “Without these elements, we fear that the new Agreement may be merely symbolic, or, like the 1987 version, set out ambitious goals and objectives, but fail to reach them. The Great Lakes and all those who depend on them for their well-being cannot afford such a failure.” 


Contact:
John Jackson
Tel: 519-744-7503
Cell: 519-591-7503
Email: jjackson at glu.org    



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