Cop 27: Mexico agrees tougher emissions reduction goal

Mexico has agreed to a tougher new target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 35pc by 2030 from a business as usual scenario, the country's foreign minister Marcelo Ebrard announced on Saturday.

The government was committed to the new nationally determined contribution (NDC), which represents a 5 percentage point increase from the previous 30pc target announced only two days earlier, Ebrard said during a joint press conference with US climate envoy John Kerry at the Cop 27 UN climate summit in Sharm el-Sheikh.

Mexico's revised emissions reduction target – which seems likely to have resulted from US pressure on its southern neighbour to strengthen its climate ambitions – was welcomed by Kerry, who said it marked "a huge significant shift from where Mexico was last year in Glasgow" at the previous Cop 26 UN climate summit. The US was committed to "work hard to make sure the resources are available" for Mexico to achieve its goal, Kerry added, without specifying how Washington would help.

To achieve its new target, Mexico plans to double down on its efforts in clean energy, supporting investments in hydropower, geothermal, wind and solar. This would mean Mexico would have an additional 40GW of renewable capacity in its energy mix within the next eight years, Ebrard said.

Electromobility would also play a key role, the minister said, honoring the Glasgow Climate Pact's target of 50pc of new light vehicles sold in 2030 to be zero emissions. Mexico would also expand natural protected areas to 2mn km and plant 1.1mn trees, he said.

But none of this will be cheap – Mexico would need an additional $48bn to make its commitments a reality, with financing coming from both the public and private sectors, Ebrard noted.

On methane, state oil giant Pemex would reduce emissions from its operations, Ebrard said, without providing details on targets. Mexico is a signatory to the Global Methane Pledge, launched at Cop 26, which aims to reduce global methane emissions by at least 30pc by 2030 from 2020 levels.

By Jacqueline Echevarria