One of our readers asked us: “How do Mexicans follow the Paris Climate Agreement to the federal government?” Meinch, a Yale Climate Connection contributor and journalist living in Mexico, answered this question for us. Here is their answer:
Today’s climate goals and objectives face significant resistance in North America in terms of international treaties and cooperation.
On January 20, 2025, on the first day of his tenure as President Donald Trump, he promised to withdraw from the United States from the Paris Agreement again, which the country has been unable to meet its climate goals.
Mexico is also lagging behind in its international commitment to limit climate change. Foremost, “Serious Insufficient” is the latest rating Mexico has received from a climate action tracker.
The Independent Science Project evaluates the commitments and progress of each country participating in the Paris Agreement, an international treaty facing climate change as a global emergency. The core goal of the agreement is to reduce heat absorption emissions from fossil fuels and other sources, enough to limit global rise in temperatures to less than two degrees Celsius.
Over the past few years, Mexico's federal policies and economy have moved in the opposite direction, benefiting fossil fuel investment rather than renewable energy, attracting attention from climate advocates and some institutions.
By contrast, climate change is an increasingly concerned issue for many Mexican citizens, meaning many readers may share the attention of readers who ask this question.
A Yale University survey of more than 1,700 Mexican participants in 2023 showed that 61% of respondents in the country believed that climate change would cause great harm. (Editor's Note: The survey was conducted by Yale University's Climate Change Communications Program (the publisher of this website).)
There are more Mexicans surveyed, with 88% saying that climate change should be the highest or very high priority for the government. By comparison, only 58% of respondents said this should be a very high or high government priority.
So, how do everyday citizens put pressure on government action on this international issue?
Think about the little local
It can be said that trying to take action by the National Government is a burden borne by any individual. But this is not the end of the story.
“I believe that if the pressure was not from the international level, the federal government would have done little to do anything,” said Rogelio O. Corona-Núñez, who is from the University of Messico. Atmospheric scientist, he specializes in climate change and communication.
On the brighter side, this potentially frustrating answer almost means that there is nothing individuals can do. They just need to redirect their attention.
According to Corona-Núñez, the key to climate resilience and sustainable solutions is that many climate-friendly leaders in the country’s borders say it’s smaller, act locally and develop collectively.
“[We need to] Start making changes locally. Start providing knowledge and training to the community and the general public. ” Corona-Núñez said in Spanish.
When you do this effectively, it triggers visible, inspiring changes that affect the daily lives of individuals and people nearby. As it spreads, it also has the potential to influence federal and even international efforts.
Huatulco's Ecological Movement
Corona-Núñez points to the Huatulco community in Oaxaca, a shining example of the local green movement that has triggered a huge change in Mexico.
Over the past 30 years, Huatulco has been traveling and developing fortresses on Mexico's South Pacific coast. The tourist area covers over 20 miles of coastline and has 9 scenic bays and a protected ecological reserve covering more than half of the property.
Over the past three decades, growth has shown different development methods as hospitality and tourism infrastructure develops. Now, this includes running on a 100% clean energy grid.
Lorenzo Alfaro Ocampo, one of the leaders of the local sustainability movement, said he went on vacation in the mid-1990s and fell in love with the original landscape from Cancun and Playa del ·Carmen moved to Huatulco.
He worked in the hospitality industry and soon became committed to sustainability at Huatulco, which was frustrated by the excessive and invasive developments he witnessed in Mecca’s trip to Cancun.
“My thought was: we have to keep that,” he said, noting that he had no sustainable background at the time. “We have to find a way to make sure that Huatulco doesn't change – it's still saved.”
He said the seeds of the green movement were grown by a group of investors who advocated advocating for sustainable Huatulco before the outbreak of tourism in the 1990s. This grew into a formal investment committee that guided tourism development.
“We didn’t consider whether [federal] The government complies with or does not comply. When asked how to put pressure on the National Government, we were thinking about what we could do.
Build a green team
In 2005, Alfaro Ocampo co-founded Equipo Verde Huatulco, a nonprofit civil group that will oversee a long list of sustainable priorities throughout the community. This work helps to obtain the community’s first sustainability certificate from Earthcheck’s environmental management system. Global organizations and advisory groups provide consulting services and certificates for tourism destinations committed to sustainability.
Huatulco's certification involves community-wide carbon neutral commitments, sustainability audits, and annual reports on water and energy use, carbon emissions, waste disposal, and other ambitious environmental benchmarks.
Alfaro Ocampo said the key to success is to include people from all departments of the community.
In 2015, Huatulco was named the first tourist community in the Americas, the second time the world has received the platinum certification from Earth Check, and now it claims the institution has received the highest honor of Master’s certification.
The movement quickly grew from hoteliers and small businesses to highway planning and the Bahias de Watourco International Airport, which became the first airport in Latin America to receive a Earth inspection.
Other Mexican destinations, such as the cities of Loreto and Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve in Baja California Sur, have now replicated Huatulco's sustainability model and acquired itself sustainable certification. A city in Portugal invites Equipo Verde Huatulco to share their stories and models.
Corona-Núñez said Huatulco's story shows the power locals have when they coordinate through non-governmental entities and touches on the power locals have in Mexico.
“After organizing with the hotel, they organize with the community and then at international airports. After that, with a lot of interest, the federal government wanted to implement the strategy they were using.” “Then the government merged and adopted Huatulco’s approach and Method, bring it to other tourist destinations.”
Others urge federal action
When it comes to the Paris Agreement and Mexico’s commitment to reduce emissions, part of the problem is the lack of consequences or penalties for non-compliance with the violation, Coronona-Núñez said.
Since 1993, a national nonprofit and civilian organization, the Center for Environmental Law of Mexico or the Center for CEMDA has been committed to defending the right to a healthy Mexican environment. Its work includes bringing climate cases against the federal government to ensure it sticks to its commitments. NGOs mainly operate donations and welcome donations from individuals, large and small, large and large organizations.
“From civil society, as CEMDA, we will continue to insist that in order to achieve these goals [climate] Goal, Mexico must stop betting on fossil gas, and stop investing in refineries and gas pipelines because this violates the above climate goals,” Margarita Campuzano, director of communications at CEMDA, in a letter to Spain with Yale climate connection email read.
On an individual level, advocating a greener future may also look like a vote for local, state and federal political candidates who speak openly about climate resilience and present a trail that demonstrates that value.
While CEMDA has not provided specific advice for individuals seeking to put pressure on the federal government, Campsano expressed some optimism about the administration taking office in the fall of President Claudia Sheinbaum, after The author contributed to the report on climate change between the United Nations.
“For CEMDA, the image of the president and the commitment of the secretary responsible for environmental and climate issues are a good sign that compliance with the Paris Agreement will be taken seriously,” Campsano said.
Corona-Núñez expressed more doubts about federal will.
He shared many examples of national efforts, such as the widely controversial Tren Maya Megaproject – taking environmental or sustainability as an international example, whereas local impacts may have the opposite effect. In 2023, the federal government even revised its definition of “clean energy” to include certain technologies that are still more dependent on fossil fuels.
“Mexican politics is more focused than anything on filling out paperwork that simulates things being done, but in reality, they are not implemented,” he said.
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