OECD Environmental Performance Reviews

ISSN :
1990-0090 (online)
ISSN :
1990-0104 (print)
DOI :
10.1787/19900090
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OECD Environmental Performance Reviews provide independent assessments of countries’ progress in achieving domestic and international environmental policy commitments and goals, together with policy-relevant recommendations.  They address the management of air, water, waste, biodiversity, and land; they examine the relationship between economic and social policy and the environment; and they describe the subject country’s international co-operation in such areas as climate change, marine pollution and development co-operation.  Each report includes a broad range of economic and environmental statistical data. On average, five or six countries are reviewed each year.

Also available in: French, German, Spanish, Italian
 
OECD Environmental Performance Reviews: Mexico 2013

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Authors:
OECD
Publication Date :
15 Jan 2013
Pages :
170
ISBN :
9789264180109 (PDF) ; 9789264180086 (print)
DOI :
10.1787/9789264180109-en

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This Environmental Performance Review of Mexico provides an independent assessment of Mexico's progress in achieving its domestic and international environmental commitments, together with policy-relevant recommendations. It evaluates progress towards sustainable development and green growth, with a focus on policies that tackle climate change and address biodiversity and forest conservation objectives.
Also available in: Spanish
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  • Preface

    Rapid urbanisation, population growth and rising incomes are generating a range of pressures on Mexico’s rich natural asset base, and compromising the environmental well-being of its citizens. In recent years the Mexican government has taken important steps to address these challenges. Environmental policies and institutions have been strengthened and investment in infrastructure has helped improve people’s health by providing better access to water services. Mexico has also shown impressive leadership in international environmental co-operation, particularly climate change. Nevertheless, much remains to be done.

  • Foreword

    The principal aim of the OECD Environmental Performance Review programme is to help member and selected partner countries to improve their individual and collective performance in environmental management by:

    • helping individual governments to assess progress in achieving their environmental goals; 
    • promoting continuous policy dialogue and peer learning;
    • stimulating greater accountability from governments towards each other and the public opinion.
  • General notes
  • Executive summary

    Mexico is among the largest economies in the OECD. Over the last decade, it experienced average growth and recovered swiftly from the global downturn. However, the gap in living standards with the rest of the OECD widened, mainly because of Mexico’s relatively low productivity. In 2010, per capita income was among the lowest in the OECD, and Mexico was the second most unequal country in the OECD in terms of income. Mexico has a rich natural asset base and production and consumption patterns are less energy- and material-intensive than in more developed economies, although this gap has narrowed. However, rapid urbanisation, population growth and rising income are generating a range of environmental pressures.

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  • Expand / Collapse Hide / Show all Abstracts Progress towards sustainable development

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    • Key environmental trends

      During the 2000s, Mexico experienced average economic growth, poverty and inequality were among the highest in the OECD, and environmental degradation imposed significant costs on the economy. This chapter provides a snapshot of some key environmental trends in Mexico over the last decade, in the context of the transition towards green growth and sustainable development. It briefly describes Mexico’s progress in using energy and natural resources efficiently; in managing its natural asset base, including renewable and non-renewable natural resource stocks and biodiversity; and in improving its people’s environmental quality of life.

    • Policy-making environment

      In the last decade, environmental sustainability has been recognised at federal level as a key dimension of Mexico’s development. There have also been significant advances in environmental policy integration. This chapter reviews the main strategies and initiatives that were launched during the decade in the areas of sustainable development and environmental management. It examines Mexico’s environmental governance and the mechanisms in place to improve horizontal and vertical co-ordination. Other environmental governance issues examined include: enforcement and compliance; mechanisms to evaluate the environmental impact of public policies; and promoting environmental democracy, through better access to information, improved public participation and access to justice.

    • Towards green growth

      Mexico has to confront difficult trade-offs in pursuing its economic, social and environmental goals. This chapter examines Mexico’s use of taxation policy to pursue environmental and social objectives and progress in removing environmentally harmful subsidies. The chapter also looks at other economic instruments to implement the polluter-pays and user-pays principles and to recover the cost of providing environmental services. Mexico’s innovation performance, including on environment, is also assessed. Finally, the chapter briefly reviews the environmental dimension of Mexico’s development co-operation and mechanisms for environmental co-operation in trade agreements.

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  • Expand / Collapse Hide / Show all Abstracts Progress towards selected environmental objectives

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    • Climate change

      Mexico has assigned a high political priority to tackling climate change. It has shown great leadership in, and a strong commitment to, supporting international efforts to address climate change. This chapter reviews its progress in strengthening its institutional, strategic and legal frameworks on climate change. It analyses the opportunities to improve the effectiveness and cost-efficiency of measures implemented in the energy and transport sectors, including those to promote renewables and energy efficiency. The potential to reduce non-energy-related emissions, including from deforestation and forest degradation, is also addressed.

    • Biodiversity and forests

      Because Mexico is a mega-diverse country, its progress in protecting biodiversity and forest resources is of global significance. This chapter examines Mexico’s institutional and policy framework for the conservation and sustainable use of these resources. It analyses the instruments adopted, the progress achieved and the further efforts needed to reduce the main pressures on the natural resource base. It also examines how biodiversity and forestry objectives have been mainstreamed into other key policy areas, such as agriculture and tourism, and provides recommendations for a more co-ordinated, coherent and strategic policy framework.

    • Selected economic data
    • Selected social data
    • Selected environmental data
    • Actions taken on the 2003 OECD Review Recommendations
    • Abbreviations
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