Monday, September 29, 2014

For Mexico, Addressing Climate Change is a State Commitment

Presidency of the Republic

Climate change is a state commitment for Mexico, declared President Enrique Peña Nieto during his participation in the Plenary Session of Heads of State and Government of the Climate Summit 2014, in the framework of the 69th United Nations General Assembly.

The President emphasized that addressing climate change requires the commitment and combined efforts of all nations and all stakeholders, "We must speed up efforts to advance the care and protection of our common home, our only home, which is planet Earth."

He stressed that Mexico has given this phenomenon an important place in structural reforms, especially in energy reform, which incorporates sustainability criteria into the Constitution.

It will also increase the production of natural gas and imports, accelerating the replacement of fuel oil and diesel in various industrial processes, including power generation and transportation.

He explained that, "In Tax Reform, and based on our global commitment, Mexico's Congress approved the establishment of a carbon tax on fossil fuels, which, together with the National Emissions Registry, allows us to implement a greenhouse gas emission trading scheme."

He also said that this reform encourages the generation of electricity from cleaner sources of energy, by establishing the immediate deductibility of investments in this industry. He said that, "In electricity, we will promote smart transmission grids by facilitating interconnection for clean energy producers in areas with greater geothermal, wind or solar potential."

He said that with 1.4 percent of global emissions of greenhouse gases, Mexico is a moderate emitter. However, it is strengthening its measures to respond to climate change. The president explained that in 2012, the General Law on Climate Change went into effect. One of its main objectives is to reduce baseline emissions by 30% by 2030 and by 50% in 2050, in comparison with emissions in 2000.

In 2013, he added, a further step was taken by implementing the National Climate Change Strategy, which will be responsible for coordinating mitigation and adaptation strategies for the next 40 years. This year, the Special Climate Change Program was launched with specific measures to be developed during this administration to control greenhouse gases and short-lived climate pollutants.

The Special Program for the Development of Renewable Energy was also established this year. "We will thereby be able to go beyond the provisions of the respective law by setting an even more audacious goal: in 2018, 34.6 per cent of electricity generation capacity will be based on renewable energies and clean technologies, thereby ensuring that over a quarter of all the country's electricity will come from low carbon sources.

Thus, exico assumes its global responsibility with a solid commitment to reducing greenhouse gases, to foster the new agreement under the climate change convention to be adopted at the Paris Conference 2015," he said.

At the plenary session, the president proposed to the General Assembly the creation of an Intergovernmental Panel on Water as a space for developing new adaptation works, which will enable countries to be better prepared for the impact of increasingly severe weather events.

"It is important for all the nations in the world together to reach an effective and efficient agreement that incorporates robust financial mechanisms to support national strategies for developing countries in 2015," he said.

He concluded by saying, "Humans are the cause of climate change, but, I am sure, we can also be the solution."

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Press release, Sep. 24, 2014, Presidency of the Republic, Mexico, DF; Presidency of the Republic translation