Press Releases
December 11, 2008 |
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MEXICAN GOVERNMENT ANNOUNCES AGGRESSIVE NATIONAL GOAL TO REDUCE CARBON EMISSIONS BY 2050
Center for Clean Air Policy collaborates with Mexican government on design of sectoral targets and policies
Poznan, Poland — The Mexican government today announced an aggressive national goal to reduce carbon emissions economy wide by 50 percent below 2002 levels by the year 2050. In addition, the government announced it is designing sectoral targets to be met through a national trans-sectoral cap-and-trade program that would be operational by 2012.
Fernando Tudela, (left) vice minister of Environment and Natural Resources for the Government of Mexico, made the announcement in Poznan, Poland, as international delegates continued negotiations on a post-2012 climate change treaty.
“Energy is essential to economic growth and social opportunity, and the Government of Mexico also recognizes that without carefully designed regulations and programs that growth can come at a cost to the climate and the economy,” said Tudela. “With international technological and financial support, Mexico can implement sectoral targets that will help us mitigate and adapt to climate change without jeopardizing its economic development.”
The Center for Clean Air Policy (CCAP) is collaborating with the Mexican government on the design of the sectoral approaches and policies to reduce emissions from key energy intensive industries. Ned Helme, president of CCAP, (right) said that sectoral appoaches, which are part of the Bali Action Plan, can be a pathway for developing countries to establish nationally appropriate mitigation actions and participate in a post-2012 international climate vision.
“Many developing countries such as Mexico recognize that stabilizing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions requires the collective effort of the global community and necessitates a well functioning post-2012 climate change plan that involves the active participation of both developed and developing countries,” said Helme. “The Mexican government should be applauded for exerting leadership and announcing such a strong, national goal. CCAP looks forward to working with the Government of Mexico to help them achieve their climate goals.”
In November 2008, the Mexican Congress passed a new, comprehensive energy law that was initially submitted by President Felipe Calderon. This law provides the legal framework and gives the administration broad powers to develop policies that will reduce GHGs. In February 2009, President Calderon will release the details of this program; however, Tudela said the government will achieve its goals through cleaner, energy efficient technologies including:
- Significant expansion of cogeneration in the energy sector;
- Implementing a large scale compact fluorescent lamp retrofit program to replace 70 million inefficient light bulbs between 2009 and 2012; and
- Installing 2,500 MW of wind power generation and 2 million m2 of solar water heat in the commercial and residential sectors between 2008 and 2016.
Mexico has created a New Energy Transition Fund of 3 billion pesos or about US$222 million per year, which could be combined with upfront international support for advanced technologies, to incentivize this strong control program.
Preliminary results from a CCAP sectoral study released this week in Poznan indicate that there is great potential to reduce emissions in the Mexican cement and oil refining sectors. In cement, reductions can range between 5 to 9 percent by 2020, and can grow to 22 percent below business as usual levels depending on the level of international assistance.
Additionally, there is the potential to reduce emissions in Mexican oil refineries by 5 to 11 percent, and with international assistance emissions reductions can grow to 19 percent by 2020. Furthermore, Mexico can build as much as 3,000 MW of high efficiency cogeneration with loans from the international community that will reduce the country’s reliance on fossil-fueled power plants and cut emissions by another 9 million tons, more than double the potential emissions reductions from refineries.
Mexico plans to achieve the targets by linking the oil, cement, electricity and steel sectors in a national trans-sectoral cap-and-trade program that can be operational by 2012. Reductions by companies that go beyond the cap can be sold on the international carbon market.
Tudela concluded by stating: “This is a very aggressive goal for our country, but we are confident we can achieve it with international assistance. Similar actions by other developing countries can be a centerpiece of the architecture for the post-2012 climate treaty the international community is developing through the important UNFCCC negotiation process.”
###
