MEMORANDUM

SUBJECT: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s International Priorities

TO: All EPA Employees

Today our world faces unprecedented environmental challenges ranging from making sure our air, water and land are healthy to facing down the growing threat of climate change. At the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, it is part of our mission to confront these challenges both at home and around the world.

While we have a long history of international collaboration on numerous global environmental issues, our bilateral and multilateral partnerships have taken on a renewed significance. The Commission for Environmental Cooperation is one of those vital partnerships. Since 1994, the Commission has been focused on developing innovative, collaborative solutions to reduce environmental impacts and promote mutual prosperity.

Today at the CEC’s annual meeting, I will publicly announce EPA’s international priorities. It is our vision that by working with global partners we can advance our shared priorities, including adapting to climate change, ensuring national security, facilitating commerce, promoting sustainable development, protecting vulnerable populations and engaging diplomatically around the world. Following are the six international priorities that will guide our work toward achieving these goals.

Building Strong Environmental Institutions and Legal Structures: Countries need adequate governmental structures to enforce environmental protections. The EPA will work with countries such as India, Ghana, Kenya and Brazil to develop and support the promotion of good governance, improve judicial and legal structures and design the regulatory systems necessary for effective environmental protection around the world.

Combating Climate Change by Limiting Pollutants: We have taken important steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions here at home, but the global challenge of climate change requires a global solution. To make significant progress in reducing the effects of climate change, we must cut pollution throughout the world. The EPA will promote global strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and other pollutants, in particular methane from landfills and black carbon from cookstoves. These pollutants are damaging especially vulnerable regions such as the Himalayan glaciers and the Arctic.

Improving Air Quality: Much of the pollution that contributes to climate change and increases cases of asthma and other respiratory diseases is concentrated in urban areas, which are growing in the U.S. and around the world. The EPA will work with organizations and local and national governments, such as Jakarta, Indonesia, to improve urban air quality in rapidly developing cities and communities.

Expanding Access to Clean Water: Water bodies in the United States and throughout the world remain imperiled. The EPA will support global partners and regions, such as the Caribbean, in creating safe and efficient drinking-water and wastewater treatment systems. We also will help in providing long-term, sustainable and high-quality drinking water and sanitation systems for overburdened and underserved communities such as those along the U.S.-Mexican border.

Reducing Exposure to Toxic Chemicals: Today, chemicals are prevalent in everything from food to baby bottles. As children develop, they are especially vulnerable to these chemicals, particularly mercury and lead. While we are working closely with Congress to strengthen our chemical laws, the EPA also will work with our global partners to provide protections for our people and consistency for industry. In working with partners like the United Nations Environment Programme, we will strive to reduce or eliminate the impact of pesticides and other toxic chemicals.

Cleaning Up E-Waste: The electronics that provide us with convenience often end up discarded in developing countries where improper disposal can threaten local people and the environment. EPA recognizes this urgent concern and will work with international partners to address the issues of e-waste. In the near-term, EPA will focus on ways to improve the design, production, handling, reuse, recycling, exporting and disposal of electronics. 

These priorities are built around the challenges and opportunities inherent in our mission to protect human health and the environment in the United States and throughout the global community. Aligning with the seven EPA priorities I issued earlier this year, these six international priorities will serve as extensions of our domestic agenda to guide our work during the months and years ahead.

I have complete confidence in the talent and spirit of our workforce. As we embrace these priorities to confront the environmental challenges before us, I will count on your energy, ideas and passion to help lead the way.

Sincerely,
Lisa P. Jackson