Mexico

Status under International Climate Change Law

• 2030 Commitment: Peak emissions by 2026; 22% emissions reduction compared to business-as-usual in 2030.

Federal Laws on Climate Change

Climate

• General Law on Climate Change (2012) (Amended 2014) to establish the basis for the creation of institutions, legal frameworks, and financing to move towards a low carbon economy.
• Bill: Climate Change Act (2011) [Spanish]
• Vehicle Emissions Act (2011) [Spanish]

Energy

• Law for the Use of Renewable Energies and Funding the Energy Transition  (LAERFTE) (28 November 2008) to reduce Mexico’s dependence on hydrocarbons as the primary source of energy.
• Law for Sustainable Energy Use (LASE) (28 November 2008) to promote scientific research related to sustainable energy use.
• Law for Bioenergy Promotion and Development (13 December 2007) to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as per the international instruments to which Mexico is a signatory.

Forests and Land Use

• General Law for Sustainable Forest Development (13 December 2002) to seek to regulate and promote the conservation, protection, restoration, production, organization, agricultural activity, and management of Mexico’s forests in order to secure sustainable forest development.

Others

• Accelerated Depreciation for Investments with Environmental Benefits (2005) to establish that investments in environmentally friendly technologies, including renewable energy, could profit from accelerated depreciation.
• General Law of Ecological Equilibrium and Environmental Protection (1 March 1998) to promote the preservation and restoration of ecological balance and environmental protection in Mexico.

• Environmental Balance and Protection Act (2011) (Spanish), National Law

Government Documents

• Special Climate Change Program (2009-2012)
• Summary of the Special Climate Change Program
• Inter-Secretariat Commission on Climate Change (25 April 2005) to coordinate national policies on climate change mitigation and adaptation as well as programmes and strategies.
• More information is available on the Secretary of the Environment and Natural Resouces (SEMARNAT) website here.

Secondary Sources 

José Juan González Marquez, Mexico, in CLIMATE CHANGE LIABILITY, 627-49 (Richard Lord, et al. eds., Cambridge University Press 2011)

Updated as of: December 2013