Mexico City 2015 Blog: Clearing the Air in Mexico

By
Holly K. Sonneland

While more world leaders join in the discussion on climate change, the Mexican government is addressing air quality head on through ambitious and yet pragmatic goals.

Lately, everyone from Pope Francis to U.S. President Barack Obama has been addressing climate change—both in official and satiric remarks. Meanwhile, Mexico is taking a lead role in getting down to brass tacks. At the end of March, Mexico became the first developing country—and the first country in the Americas—to submit its post-2020 emission reduction targets to the United Nations ahead of the UN climate conference in Paris in December 2015. Mexico, which emits the tenth-highest amount of greenhouse gases in the world (representing 1.4 percent of all global emissions), pledged unconditionally to reduce emissions from baseline 2000 levels by 22 percent with a 2030 deadline. This target, which is in line with Mexico’s previous goal to reduce emissions by 50 percent by 2050, suggests the country will hit net emission peaks in 2026, and a downward emissions trend would start that year.

The proposal is not just in response to international discussion, but domestic pressures as well. The Mexican government incorporated public opinion while developing its targets through an open online survey in mid-March, and the UN proposal is now open for public comment through September of this year. According to a 2011 Nielsen survey, about 93 percent of Mexicans are concerned about climate change—the highest rate of concern marked by any country; by comparison, 48 percent of U.S. citizens say they’re concerned about climate change, a 14-point drop over four years.

The country has made progress in recent decades. Mexico City, for example, was declared the most polluted city in the world by the UN in 1992, but has dramatically improved its air quality since then. Notwithstanding, pollution remains a pressing issue for the country. Experts at Mexico’s Competitiveness Institute (IMCO) estimated in 2013 that poor air quality accounts for more than 5,000 deaths and 14,000 hospitalizations in the country each year since 2010, and cost the Mexican economy $48 million annually in healthcare expenditures. The country as a whole has levels of particle pollution two to three times higher than recommended levels, with the IMCO survey showing the most dangerous air qualities in cities of Cuernavaca, Mexicali, Monterrey, and Tijuana in particular.

The Mexican government is pursuing regional cooperation on the issue, too. In March, Presidents Enrique Peña Nieto and Obama announced the creation of a bilateral task force on clean energy and climate policy, which will be jointly helmed by U.S. Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz and Mexican Minister of Environment and Natural Resources Juan José Guerra Abud. On April 23, Mexican officials hosted U.S. and Canadian representatives at an event in Monterrey to work on public policies for sustained economic development and improving quality of life for citizens. Mexico will also host leaders from 23 countries around the globe at the sixth international Clean Energy Ministerial (best known as CEM6) meeting in May.

The United States submitted its targets to the UN the day after Mexico, pledging to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 26 to 28 percent below 2005 levels by the year 2025, albeit the U.S. statement did not use the unconditionally commitment language used by Mexico, but rather said the country would “make best efforts” to meet its targets. Canada has yet to submit its plan.