According to a new study
by the Mexican Finance Group – 16 NGOs, including CEMDA, that work on
environmental, budget, gender equity, and human rights issues – the
funding currently allocated in Mexico’s budget for climate change
mitigation and adaptation is insufficient for meeting the goals the
country has established for 2012. The group, created in 2010, agrees
that international finance is necessary to complement domestic
investment in order to achieve Mexico’s emissions targets, but they
affirm that first and foremost it is necessary improve the national
budget allocation to begin the transition towards a low carbon
development path.
Mexico’s Mitigation Goals and the National Budget
In accordance with the goals established in the Special Program on
Climate Change (PECC, per its acronym in Spanish), Mexico will reduce
its GHG emissions by 51 million megatons CO2-equivalent from
2000 levels by 2012. Of that amount, 36% of the reduction is expected to
come from the energy sector; 30% from agriculture, forests, and other
land uses; and 23% from the transport sector. The Secretary of
Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT) has recognized that Mexico
is behind in meeting these reduction targets. To reverse this, budgetary
funds must be redirected in a transparent and equitable manner that
allows Mexico to move towards a truly low-carbon economy.
To arrange such reallocations of funds, and at the request of several
concerned members of Mexico’s Congress, CEMDA and our partners
conducted an analysis of budget allocations in Mexico’s four major
carbon-emitting sectors (transportation, energy, agriculture, and
forestry). We found a disturbing decline in resources allocated to
mitigation and adaptation in the 2012 budget proposal: These resources
dropped from 584.2 million pesos in 2011 to 221.1 million pesos in the
2012 budget, a 62% reduction.
Energy
Mexico’s energy sector contributes 21% of the country’s GHG
emissions. Investment in renewables and energy efficiency is fundamental
to reducing those emissions. However, our analysis found that the
government continues to prioritize fossil fuels and to promote the
research and expansion of nuclear energy. It also found that energy
sector subsidies – which primarily target fossil fuels – are rising;
they will reach almost 84 billion pesos by 2012.
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| Air pollution in Mexico City, photo by Malingering |
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