Mexico
México
Overall NDC Equity Score
Insufficient
Emissions Reductions
Insufficient
The NDC has significant gaps in planning ambitious emissions reductions goals, ignoring the need for sustainable climate action.
Gender Justice
Insufficient
The NDC has significant gaps in adressing gender mainstreaming, potentially not including gender at all.
Youth Inclusion
Insufficient
The NDC has significant gaps in adressing youth inclusion, potentially not adressing young people at all.
Summary
Mexico is a country at high risk due to climate change, including coastal vulnerability to floods and hurricanes, negative impacts on agriculture from drought, and widespread insufficient access to income that supports the population in meeting basic needs. The Mexican government has not changed the goal to reduce emissions since the first NDC was published in 2015, therefore Climate Action Tracker gave Mexico a score of insufficient as its current goal will lead to an increase greater than 3°C.
On gender mainstreaming, the NDC itself does not have a section specific to gender equality. However, in different sections and paragraphs in the text, it is mentioned that the Mexican government recognizes and ratifies its commitments to implementing an NDC focused on gender equality, intersectionality, and human rights with the purpose of including women. Additionally, it recognizes that women have more limitations when it comes to access to financial tools, education, or capacity building, reducing their ability to adapt to climate change and putting them further at risk. The NDC must move beyond merely recognizing the vulnerability of women to climate change towards their active role in shaping solutions.
On youth inclusion, there is one sentence indicating the inclusion of youth perspectives in creating the NDC without detailing how their perspectives were integrated into it, the process for including their voices, or how young people are disproportionately vulnerable to climate impacts. One of the NDC Ambassadors, Jorge R. Martinez, commented that in 2020, the country’s youth met with authorities responsible for the finalization of the Mexican NDC to whom they proposed various different changes from a youth perspective. Unfortunately, he does not feel their perspectives were reflected in the 2020 NDC.
This analysis also analyzed inclusion of indigenous peoples, recognizing their importance, however, also failed to explain any form of implementation or metrics to track progress.
Highlights
- Recognizes women’s safety is at stake due to climate change.
- Emphasizes the importance of indigenous communities to preserve biological resources.
- Considers linkages to the Sustainable Development Goals and a balanced focus between mitigation and adaptation.
- Acknowledges the importance of a gender and human-rights based approach to tackling climate change.
Lowlights
- Lists goals to reduce emissions, while lacking an implementation plan, leading to the potential for an empty commitment.
- Only recognizes 4 of 29 principles in the United Nations Development Program's gender-inclusive NDC check-list.
- Young people were engaged in a listening session for the NDC, however, none of their contributions were reflected in the text.
- Lacks information on how indigenous communities will be included or protected from the effects of climate change.
Key Recommendations
This analysis found that there is no emphasis on the importance of youth as vulnerable to climate change and key stakeholders in implementing solutions, nor a defined process for how they were meaningfully included in the design process. Although clear inequalities on the impacts of climate change on women are included, the NDC lacks comprehensive strategies for mainstreaming gender equality in response to climate change.
Despite having one of the youngest climate negotiation teams, led by a woman, it’s clear that systemic political and cultural barriers are preventing adequate inclusion of women, girls, and young people in the NDC process. The following are key recommendations for the improvement of future NDCs and other national climate plans:
For Gender Justice
- Hire a gender specialist to lead gender just engagement practices and incorporate a gender lens throughout the NDC.
- Outline specific vulnerabilities and impacts of climate change based on gender, including of LGBTQ+ communities.
- Consider increase in access to financial tools, education, and capacity building as solutions for women to reduce their vulnerability.
For Youth Inclusion
- Design a youth engagement process for ensuring youth perspectives are centered in the next NDC.
- Incorporate key findings on the vulnerability of young people to climate impacts.
- Specify how the government plans to take action and implement the NDC in collaboration with young people and gender diverse populations.
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