Current environmental policy has a tendency to join political instruments to preserve natural resources for human life and in that manner, achieve sustainable development. In Mexico, there are several instruments of public policy, among these there are juridical tools which set the pace to comply with local, regional, national and international regulations.
Since the publication of the General Law of Climate Change (Ley General de Cambio Climático), which took place on June 6, 2012, it was stipulated in section I, Chapter IV titled “Instruments of Planning”, that the National Strategy is regarded as an instrument that shapes national politics in the medium and long term to face the effects of Climate Change. The General Law of Climate Change mentions in its article 60, second paragraph, that the creation of the Strategy took place in collaboration with the National Institute of Ecology and Climate Change (Instituto Nacional de Ecología y Cambio Climático), and with the opinion of the Council for Climate Change (Consejo de Cambio Climático). Simultaneously, such Council has the duty to follow up on the evaluations of the Strategy.
A year later, on June 3rd, 2013, the National Strategy for Climate Change (Estrategia Nacional de Cambio Climático) was published in the Official Journal of the Federation (Diario Oficial de la Federación). Its publication sets the pace for the establishment of actions with a long-term vision, one which will trace a route of 10, 20, 40 years; there are no concrete actions or responsible parties defined, instead, it defines six pillars of national policy on Climate Change, three strategic axes related to adaptation, and five strategic axes focused on mitigation matters , which conjointly result in the Strategy’s main objective: To face the effects of Climate Change and move towards a competitive economy that is also sustainable and with low Carbon emissions, simultaneously engaging policies of the three orders of government.
It is important to note that on paper, many programs, plans and strategies can sound interesting, brilliant, innovative, and relevant for our country, however, it is equally true that many of them, perhaps the majority of them, will not achieve anything concrete. Instead, they will merely create bureaucratic monsters that are avid of resources but low in efficacy; public policy regarding Climate Change matters should be developed, and plans or strategies like this one should be embedded within such a policy in order to avoid the development of a public policy on a federal level that arises from a Strategy. In reality, an individual law is not enough to address all matters, multiple legal and regulatory adjustments must take place, but in the end, hope is the last thing that dies.
With this order of ideas, the six pillars of national policy on Climate Change are the following: possess Climate Change policies and actions that are transversal, articulated, coordinated and inclusive; Develop fiscal policies as well as financial and economic instruments with a focus on Climate Change; Implement a platform of research, innovation and development that is suitable for technologies of Climate Change and for the strengthening of institutional capabilities; Promote the development of a Climate Change culture; Create mechanisms of measurement, reporting, verification, monitoring, and evaluation; and Strengthen strategic cooperation and international leadership.
Each of the six pillars contains specific lines of action focused on the development of, and compliance with, the objectives of mitigation and adaptation.
With regards to adaptation, the three strategic axes are: to reduce the vulnerability and increase the resilience of the social sector with respect to the effects of Climate Change; to reduce the vulnerability and increase the resilience of the strategic infrastructure and productive systems against the effects of Climate Change; and conserve and use in a sustainable manner the ecosystems, and maintain the ecological services these produce. The five strategic axes concerning mitigation are the following: Accelerate the energetic transition towards clean energy sources; reduce the energetic intensity through schemes of efficiency and responsible consumption; Transfer to models of sustainable cities with systems of mobility, integral waste management, and buildings with a low carbon footprint; Promote better practices of agriculture, fishing and forestry in order to increase and preserve natural carbon sinks, reduce emissions that contribute to Climate Change, and promote co-benefits of health and well-being.
With the above strategies in mind, the National Strategy for Climate Change serves as an instrument of environmental policy that has been implemented in our country and that behaves hegemonic with respect to the various environmental issues that exist. Such an approach allows us to clearly see the legislative problem, where the resolution of controversies is only addressed through the execution of mechanisms that are exclusively based on Climate Change. Fundamental matters such as economic factors are left behind. These matters, if addressed, could potentially help with the creation of solutions regarding the use of renewable energies. Simultaneously, these matters could also help to mitigate not only Climate Change, but also issues regarding water, energy, pollution, among others.
We must therefore wait and observe the results, both in the medium and long-term, that the Strategy will bring about regarding Climate Change. Hopefully, this will be more than a simple formality established by the General Law of Climate Change, since at the end of the day we have experienced on multiple occasions that the so-called lines of action, strategic axes and other methodological proposals remain on paper and never actually see the light.
We would like to thank María Matilde Flores Ruiz for her collaboration in the translation of this document .
The views expressed in this article reflect only the opinion of the members of the firm. For more information about this please contact
Mrs. Regina Gallegos [email protected]
and Mr. Daniel Basurto [email protected]