Highlighting their shared commitment to economic growth and environmental progress in the Americas, the Inter-American Development Bank President Luis Alberto Moreno and the Environmental Protection Agency of the United States Administrator Stephen L. Johnson today signed a letter of intent in Washington D.C. to protect the environment while promoting economic growth.
Moreno emphasized the importance of cooperation on environmental issues to foster development in Latin America and the Caribbean.
“The U.S. understands we must work together with our international partners as good global neighbors,” said Johnson. “Through this letter of intent, EPA and IDB are ready to deliver the residents of the Americas a cleaner, healthier, more productive future.”
The IDB and EPA may explore the possibility of cooperating in the following areas, among others: addressing regulatory quality control over fuel and energy use, with particular focus on the IDB member countries in Central America; and supporting environmental training programs for IDB staff and IDB member countries. Both organizations are already exploring ways to cooperate on cleaner fuels, methane reduction, and improved environmental governance for the region.
EPA and the IDB share a mutual interest in achieving effective and relevant policies and programs that improve human health and environmental quality in the region. The letter of intent offers EPA and IDB an opportunity to address these shared environmental and economic challenges.
Johnson joined Moreno at IDB Headquarters in Washington D.C. to initiate significant collaborations between EPA and IDB. Under the letter of intent, EPA stands ready to lend its environmental expertise to the IDB and participating member countries to address mutually shared environmental challenges in the region.