This report is in the form of memos from Climate Scorecard Country Managers to Patricia Espinosa, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework to Combat Climate Change (UNFCCC). Below is a description of the progress the country has made made in mitigating greenhouse gas emissions since the Paris Agreement was signed in 2015 and the challenges they still face in order to comply with the IPCC goal of reducing emissions by 50% by 2030.

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To: Patricia Espinosa
Executive Secretary
UNFCCC

Subject:  Climate Scorecard Progress Report for Mexico

From: Pablo David Necoechea Porras
Climate Scorecard Mexico Country Manager

I serve as Climate Scorecard Country Manager for Mexico and would like to offer you the following climate mitigation progress report from my organization’s perspective.

Since its initial 2015 pledge to the Paris Agreement, Mexico has made fair progress in meeting the goal of reducing emissions by 22% in 2030 and 50% in 2050.

Positive Developments

On the positive side, Mexico has accomplished the following:

• In 2015, Mexico was the first developing country to include an Adaptation component in its Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC) and proposed conditional and unconditional commitments for Mitigation and Adaptation under the Country Agreement.
• In 2018, Mexico established a National Adaptation Program, developing a framework for climate change action.
• In 2019, Mexico published the preliminary basis for an Emissions Trading System Program as a level market instrument to reduce GHG. Based on the cap-and-trade principle, the government imposed a maximum limit or cap on the total emissions of one or more sectors of the economy, causing some companies in these sectors to hold a permit for each ton of GHG emitted.

Remaining Limitations

However, the following conditions remain in Mexico that threaten its ability to make further progress and reach the important goal of reducing emissions.

• 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. As a result, in 2020, Mexico ratified the Paris Agreement commitments and missed an opportunity to increase its climate ambition, as many countries expanded their targets. In addition, Mexico has failed to publish progress reports, making it difficult to obtain data related to the commitments and targets assumed.
• The necessary monetary resources are not allocated to tackle climate change; the budget allocated is limited. For example, in 2021, the Secretary of the Environment and Natural Resources had a budget reduction of 28.07% compared to 2018.

Climate Scorecard is committed to working with other like-minded organizations to support efforts by Mexico to make further progress in its effort to reduce emissions by 50% by 2030 and help the Paris Agreement reach its important goals.

Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions about this report or need further information.