Submitted By Climate Scorecard Mexico Country Manager Pablo David Necoechea Porras

This text aims to identify the most significant obstacles Mexico faces in combatting climate change and reaching the country’s Climate Commitment Goals of reducing emissions by 22% in 2030 and 50% in 2050.

Scientific evidence and environmental impacts recorded by recent events have changed the discussion on climate change in Mexico and around the world. It has become a major problem—current and global in scope, and requires immediate joint intervention by governments, society, industries, and associations worldwide.

Mexico is considered among the countries most vulnerable to climate change since more than 15% of the national territory, 68.5% of its population, and 70% of GDP are prone to suffer negative consequences from this phenomenon.

Mexico’s significant obstacles for reaching the 2030 and 2050 goals are because of the following reasons:

• Mexico’s energy policy is inadequate, and there is a lack of accountability.
• There is no political leadership coupled with a lack of environmental commitment by the Federal Government.
• The necessary monetary resources are not allocated to tackle climate change; the budget allocated is limited.

Importance of Mexico’s obstacles identified

Mexico’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is not consistent with the Paris Agreement goal of reducing global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above the temperature in the pre-industrial era. Mexico will not reach its emissions targets unless additional policies are enacted, raising emission reduction targets, and reversing the fossil fuel trend and expanding renewable energy. The government has adopted the burning of fossil fuels as the core of its energy policy, an approach likely to increase the country’s emissions.

Mexico’ strategies that could help overcome climate change obstacles include:

• Changing the Federal Government’s energy policy away from favouring fossil fuels towards prioritizing clean energy generation.
• Increasing the ambition of government policy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The goal of reducing emissions by 22% by 2030 should be raised to 50% in accordance with the recommendations of the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
• Increasing the budget for activities that preserve natural resources, reverse the effects of climate change, and lays the foundations for sustainable development.
• Putting in place a carbon tax and Incentivizing carbon markets.

Mexico’s energy policy requires several legal and institutional adjustments to meet climate commitment goals. In consideration of Mexico’s renewable energy potential, the Federal Government in Mexico has an opportunity to carry out this shift in decision-making to position the need to tackle climate change as an opportunity to reduce emissions and environmental inequalities and produce cleaner energy through decentralized means.

Contact

Responsible in Mexico to take action on the strategies identified into the text: María Luisa Albores González, Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources, Federal Government of Mexico.  Email: contacto.ciudadano@semarnat.gob.mx, Twitter: @Mary_Luisa_AG.