

As a founding member of the Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC), Mexico knows that short-lived climate pollutant (SLCP) mitigation is integral to global efforts to tackle air pollution and near-term climate change. Mexico created a strong foundation for this work out of the gate when it passed the General Law on Climate Change in 2012, creating a legal obligation to address SLCPs. The country then went on to set ambitious targets and policies to do so, including a 25 percent reduction target for Black Carbon emissions in their 2015 climate change commitments that could increase to as much as 40 percent with international support.
Many of these efforts culminated in 2019 when Mexico launched a National Strategy to Reduce Short-Lived Climate Pollutants, which recognizes the potential of achieving local air quality benefits while reducing near-term temperature increase. Implementing the strategy will achieve its Black Carbon reduction targets by 2030. This strategy was bolstered by the previous year’s Integrated SLCP strategy to Improve Air Quality and Reduce the Impact of Climate Change, which was developed by the National Institute of Ecology and Climate Change (INECC). The strategy identifies nine mitigation measures across eight sectors including transport, sugar mills, brick kilns, livestock, air conditioning, solid waste, and residential energy.
Mexico has worked closely with CCAC in multiple Initiatives, including participating in the SNAP (Supporting National Planning for action on short-lived climate pollutants) initiative to initiate a national planning exercise on SLCP mitigation. To do this, the CCAC helped create institutional capacity within INECC so that SLCP mitigation activities could be coordinated across all relevant ministries, agencies, and research institutions. Then, an extensive consultative process began to identify primary emissions sources as well as data and information gaps. Then a national SLCP inventory was created and Mexico’s Special Programme on Climate Change was launched in 2014, with a focus on SLCP reductions. Mexico was further a partner in the 2013 Global Strategy to Introduce Low Sulfur Fuels and Cleaner Diesel Vehicles, the first global plan to reduce small particulate and black carbon emissions from cars, buses, and trucks by over 90 percent by 2030. Mexico has also been involved in the CCAC’s gas flaring technology demonstrations, a critical way to reduce methane emissions.
In 2018, Mexico City joined several other cities across the country by becoming a BreatheLife member and establishing an air quality monitoring system and an emissions inventory. The city implemented a variety of clean energy efforts, including removing lead from gasoline, reducing sulphur content in diesel fuel, closing an oil refinery, and reformulating liquified petroleum gas for cooking and heating. The city is also working to improve public transportation by equipping buses with newer diesel technologies, introducing electric taxis, and using green inspectors and remote sensors to identify high emitting vehicles. Mexico City’s ambitious actions on air pollution exemplify this vital work: between 1990 and 2015, they added 3.2 to 3.4 years to the average life expectancy of citizens and saved 22,500-28,000 lives.
Read below for more examples of Mexico's work.
Policies and Plans
Air Quality
Energy
Energy Efficiency and HFCs
Transport
Brick sector
Thanks in large part to the growing number of integrated assessments, tools and good examples, international interest in applying integrated co-governance approaches to solve connected climate,...
This document is the meeting report (in spanish) of the Regional Expert Workshop on Air Quality and Short-lived Climate Pollutants, that took place from 21 to 23 March 2018 in Mexico City. It...
This technical report, Progress and Opportunities of Reducing Short-lived Climate Pollutants across Latin America and the Caribbean, reviews examples of initiatives and measures that have...
This is the report of the Regional Expert Workshop on Air Quality and Short-lived Climate Pollutants that took place from 21 to 23 March 2018. It brought together participants from 12 countries...
This study aims to raise the level of knowledge about Mexico's construction sector through a market analysis of construction materials like block, extruded brick and handcrafted ”ladrillo”. It...
SNAP Factsheet for Mexico
A statement by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, President Enrique Peña Nieto, and President Barack Obama, that commits Canada, Mexico, and the USA to an ambitious and enduring North American Climate...
The North American Climate, Energy, and Environment Partnership was announced by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, President Barack Obama, and President Enrique Peña Nieto on June 29, 2016, at the...
This Spanish language webinar aims to give the viewer an understanding of the issues surrounding short-lived cliamte pollutants and opportunites to reduce them. It includes an intrroduction by Aid...
This document developped with the support of the SNAP initiative of the CCAC (Supporting National Action and Planning on Short-Lived Climate Pollutants (SLCPs) introduces the issue and...