Daily Times

Mexico will strengthen its emissions-cutting efforts as part of a $48 billion renewable energy investment scheme with the United States, Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard announced Saturday at COP27.

Mexico, which has previously committed to cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 22 percent from the business-as-usual levels by 2030, will now step up to 35 percent, the minister said. The plan would require funding from both the public and private sectors this decade to double clean energy generation in Mexico.

It will “accelerate the energy transition in North America”, Ebrard told a press conference at the UN climate summit in Egypt alongside US climate envoy John Kerry.

Kerry said Mexico had indicated a “significant step forward”, noting the announcement was part of a three-way negotiation including Canada. Neither official specified the amount of US financial support for the scheme.

Ebrard said it would require “double the clean energy efforts and investment efforts in the next eight years” compared to the original plan presented in 2020. The new scheme will also offer “thousands of jobs”, he added.

The US Environmental Protection Agency and Mexican state-owned energy giant Pemex have also launched a methane reduction partnership.

The plan, as outlined Friday by the United States, will tackle emissions of the potent planet-warming gas from the oil and gas sector, which it said “rivals the emissions from Mexico’s entire power sector”. “A lot is happening with respect to methane production around the world,” Kerry said Saturday. Ebrard said the new plan would also entail an expansion of protected natural areas in Mexico by two million more hectares (five million acres).