Photo: Deposit Photos

By KELIN DILLON

Five years after Mexico entered the international Paris Agreement, which seeks to counteract climate changes and reduce countries’ environmental impact, with 195 other nations from around the world, Mexico has faltered in its own promised participation, continuing to favor fossil fuels over clean energy and following other environmentally unfriendly policies.

While the Paris Agreement sought to generate 35 percent of countries’ energy from clean sources by 2024, upping to 43 percent by 2030, Mexico remains far behind that number at 24 percent currently, a number set to drop upon passage of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s (AMLO) energy reform that will put clean energy in last place for upload to Mexico’s power grid.

Mexico has likewise seen little to no investment in clean energy, with AMLO’s administration favoring projects like the expensive Dos Bocas refinery reaffirming the country’s favoritism toward — and long-term stake in — dirty crude oil.

Likewise, Mexico’s “Sembrando Vida” program, which was created to repopulate deforested areas and a seemingly environmentally friendly cause, has caught criticism for introducing invasive and non-native species of plants into these regions that ruin regions’ biodiversity, ultimately causing more harm than good. 

“Mexico’s current actions on climate change are highly insufficient,” said Greenpeace. “Since Mexico signed the Paris Agreement, its reduction commitments have always been lower than what would correspond to a ‘fair share’ emissions scheme.”

Experts say that Mexico’s current policies and investments will make it near impossible to meet the standards and timeline set by the Paris Agreement, and would require a major overhaul in policy to do so.