We are exactly 15 days away from the start of the new Mexican government under the mandate of Dr. Claudia Sheinbaum, and we cannot ignore the monumental challenges that the New head of the Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources (Semarnat), Alicia Barcenaand the newly appointed Federal Attorney for Environmental Protection (Profepa), Mariana Boy Tamborrellsince the beginning of the six-year term.
Mexico is immersed in a deep environmental crisisclearly exacerbated by the policies and decisions of the last six years. According to recent data from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), The country has lost around 300 thousand hectares of forests and jungles every yearwhich is equivalent to More than 1.8 million hectares during the López Obrador administration.
The deforestation has been driven, to a large extent, by infrastructure projects such as the Mayan Trainwhich has devastated important ecosystems in the southeast of the country. I trust that Bárcena, with her focus on sustainable development, will seek to balance economic needs with the urgent need to curb the loss of biodiversity.
Another major challenge will be to reverse the effects of soil erosion, which already affects 45% of the national territory. This problem is closely related to agricultural overexploitation, deforestation and climate change.
I have said it and I repeat it: without effective soil conservation and ecological restoration policies, Mexico runs the risk of losing even more productive land, which will affect the food security of millions of people.
For her part, Mariana Boy, from Profepa, will have to deal with a complex panorama regarding pollution. According to the OECD, the air quality in Mexico City and other large cities continues to be one of the worst in the world, with PM2.5 particle emissions that exceed the recommended limits. In addition, 70% of the country’s bodies of water are contaminated, directly affecting rural and urban communities, and of course wildlife.
In addition, Boy will be tasked with ensuring that environmental laws are effectively enforced by professional and efficient staff, and that wildlife management is truly sustainable, both for animals and plants, and for the millions who make a living from their use.
As for the 2030 Agenda, Mexico has made limited progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) related to the environment. To begin with, we all know that the country remains highly dependent on fossil fuels, because the current government has prioritized oil refining and natural gas extraction, instead of promoting clean energy. Bárcena will have to work hard to meet the emissions reduction commitments under the Paris Agreement, in which Mexico pledged to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 22% by 2030, but this goal simply will not be achieved unless much more forceful policies towards the energy transition are implemented.
Another urgent issue is the protection of protected natural areas. Mexico has 225 Protected Natural Areas (PNA) with a coverage of 93 million 944 thousand 064 hectares, but the truth is that the vast majority of them lack adequate funding and monitoring.
Under López Obrador, the budgets for the National Commission for Protected Natural Areas (CONANP) and Profepa were significantly cut, severely weakening the government’s ability to protect these spaces. Now, with Bárcena and Boy at the helm, a major restructuring is expected to strengthen surveillance and conservation.
Finally, I hope that the conservation of endangered species will be a priority. Mexico is one of the countries with the greatest biodiversity, but many emblematic species, such as the vaquita, the jaguar and the axolotl, are on the verge of extinction. Conservation efforts have been insufficient, ineffective or poorly designed and managed, and Bárcena and Boy must coordinate concrete actions to protect these species and restore their habitats.
With an environmental crisis of this magnitude, Bárcena and Boy face a critical mission to reorient Mexico’s environmental policies 360 degrees.
This six-year term will be crucial and decisive not only to stop environmental degradation, but to implement structural changes that allow for harmonious coexistence between so-called development and the protection of nature. All eyes are on Alicia Bárcena and Mariana Boy, hopefully their experience, preparation and leadership will make this country an environmentally sustainable nation.
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