Viva lavida verde - Forum for the Future 05, 2009 · Viva la vida verde.

Mexico’s search for a sustainable future

Special Publication

Viva lavidaverde

2 Green Futures April 2009 www.greenfutures.org.uk

Mexico’s sustainable future will be fashioned in its owndistinctive image, reflecting the responses its leadersand its people bring to a wide range of presentchallenges and opportunities. For there is no othercountry quite like Mexico. A journey through itslandscape brings you face to face with its extraordinarydiversity – as was brought home to our ConsultantEditor in Mexico, environmentalist and film-makerTiahoga Ruge [pp6–9].

Our special report starts, however, with theoverarching policy issue – how to put the whole countryon the path to a greener life. Jonathon Porritt cuts tothe chase as we consider the challenges, and theevidence that President Felipe Calderón’s government is serious about tackling them. Mario Molina, perhapsMexico’s best-known environmentalist (who is alsoshaping new US policies on climate change as part ofObama’s transition team), shares his hopes and fears forMexico’s future [pp13–14].

Jo Tuckman zooms in on Mexico City, reporting onhow the world’s second largest megacity is seeking toget to grips with sustainability [pp24–26]. RonBuchanan sizes up the freshwater challenges of acountry where the rain falls where the people aren’t[pp18–21], and asks whether Mexico can make thetransition to a low-carbon economy [pp10–11]. Weconsider the efforts by Mexican business to pullMexico’s poor out of poverty and improve itsenvironmental performance at the same time[pp15–17], and Ron Mader charts the shift to a more responsible tourism offer [pp27–30].

Along the way we highlight key projects that aremaking a difference – from the climate action plan inVeracruz, to the butterfly conservation scheme inMichoacán, to the Mesoamerican Reef Tourism Initiativethat’s changing the face of tourism on the Riviera Maya[p29]. ‘La vida verde’ may not be here just yet, butmany Mexicans now realise it’s the only sensible future.Mexico’s journey has begun. – Ben Tuxworth, Editor

Welcome to Viva la vida verde,our Green Futures SpecialPublication on Mexico’s searchfor a sustainable future,supported by the UKGovernment’s SustainableDevelopment Dialogues, WWF, TUI Travel PLC, Grupo Bimbo and Unilever.

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“Our Mexicanpartners are soenthusiastic andcommitted”

Environment Secretary Hilary Bennintroduces the UK-Mexico SustainableDevelopment Dialogue.As the UK Secretary of State responsible for Sustainable Development, it gives megreat pleasure to introduce this special publication from Green Futures magazine.Mexico is a large and diverse country, and it is this richness that makes it such asignificant country to work with on sustainable development. Mexico’s uniqueposition as being a newly industrialised country, with one of the highest global rates of biodiversity, plus a growing urban middle class and the changingconsumption patterns this brings, make it all the more important for Mexicans to ‘live the green life’.

Since its launch in 2006 the UK-Mexico Sustainable Development Dialogue hasgone from strength to strength, and we are very pleased to work with such a rangeof committed and enthusiastic partners; some of their work is highlighted in thisspecial supplement. With over 200,000 different species, Mexico is home to 10–12%of the world’s biodiversity, and we have a project which seeks to use communities tohelp safeguard the natural environment. Mexico also has one of the largest tourismindustries in the world, and we are working with hotels to encourage them to adoptmore sustainable practices, for example by using resources more efficiently.

In this globally interconnected world, countries cannot achieve environmentalprotection and sustainable development alone. We have much to learn from eachother, and that is why we see the UK-Mexico Sustainable Development Dialogue assuch an opportunity to make progress on the commitments we made at the WorldSummit on Sustainable Development and on the Millennium Development Goals.


When Mexico hosts World Environment Dayin June this year, what will there be tocelebrate? The country certainly has itsshare of riches: ecological ‘megadiversity’;an example of almost every habitat in a landtouching the Caribbean, the Pacific and theAtlantic; a population of 107 million with60 different indigenous groups, making itthe second most culturally diverse in theworld; bountiful mineral and fossil fuelreserves; huge renewable energy potential;and, in Mexico City, one of the world’sgreatest conurbations.

Mexico, of course, also faces distinctive challenges. Therising drug-related violence that’s been such a regular featureof the news in recent months speaks of a nation strugglingto address huge income inequalities. Absolute povertyremains a reality for around 20% of Mexicans, with incomedisparities between urban and rural, and north and south,and few advancement opportunities for the largelyAmerindian population in the impoverished southern states.

Government figures project a further 29 million Mexicansadded to the population before it stabilises mid-century.Membership of The North American Free Trade Agreement(NAFTA) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation(OECD) has helped forge a newly dynamic economy, but thisis also bringing environmental damage at an acceleratedrate. In 2008, Mexico’s share of global CO2 emissions stoodat 1.5%, the largest in Latin America, and only a littlebehind that of the UK. And WWF’s most recent Living Planetreport placed Mexico among countries in the world livingbeyond their ecological means, though still some way behindthe excesses of the rest of North America. Water shortagesin the arid north of the country, and a growing frequency ofhurricanes in the south, point to the early effects of climatechange. Mexico has the third highest rate of forest loss inthe world (after Brazil and Indonesia) – and, despite recentimprovements, deforestation, desertification and air pollutionremain problematic despite recent improvements.

So can Mexico harness its undoubted advantages andcreate a sustainable future for its people and the world?

“Sustainability is possible anywhere in the world if publicpolicy and changes in attitude coincide and are focused on

Colossal riches; mighty challenges. Can President FelipeCalderón put Mexico on the path to a greener life? Jonathon Porritt and Ben Tuxworth consider the evidence.

this goal,” says José Sarukhán, one of thefounding fathers of ecological research inthe country. “But it isn’t easy and inMexico we are at the very beginning. WhatI do feel is very important is that PresidentCalderón has put sustainable developmentat the heart of his priorities. Not justpromises of environmental improvements,but sustainable development as a vision,and this is the first time I have seen apresident do that.”

There are certainly promising signs thatthe Calderón administration, which took

office in December 2006, is taking its environmental andsocial responsibilities seriously. Of course, there werefoundations to build on. As long ago as 1989, with helpfrom the World Bank, Mexico established a NationalCommission for Energy Saving. Measures including greateruse of natural gas, energy efficiency, and reductions indeforestation have helped curb growth in the country’s CO2

emissions by around ten million tons per year since 1990.The Environment Ministry had already put in place a wholehost of agencies with the mandate to guard Mexico’s richnatural resources, including the National Forest Commissionand the National Water Commission. And, althoughrenewable energy is still in its infancy, a target for generating8% of electricity from renewables by 2012 was set underthe then President Vicente Fox’s 2005 law on theExploitation of Renewable Energy Resources.

But there’s no doubt that things have moved up a gearsince Calderón’s inauguration. Among his first visitors werethe UK’s then Foreign and Environment Secretaries, MargaretBeckett and David Miliband; on the agenda was joint workon sustainable development, and the President was receptiveto British arguments for urgent action. A series of majormeasures have followed [see box], notably on enshriningsustainability as a priority in the national development plan,setting out plans to curb greenhouse gas emissions,expanding sustainable forestry, protecting biodiversity andboosting wind power. But there is plenty still on Calderón’s‘to do’ list, and it’s essential that environmental protection isseen as part of the solution to Mexico’s many problems,rather than a brake on its development.

GreeningQuetzalcóatl

Calderón: climate commitment

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As the international economiccrisis deepens, it would be easy forMexico’s relatively new environmentalagenda to be blown off course.Sarukhán fears that an entrenchedculture may be part of the problem.“The unions… and other privateinterests that have benefited from theway things are done are particularlyresistant to change. The petrolworkers’ union, for example, has aninterest in blocking a more sensibleuse of resources. I think they aregoing to change, but the question ishow long it is going to take, and eachyear that passes without much progress leaves an evenharder problem to solve.”

Though public awareness of sustainability issues is stillquite low in Mexico, expectations of the social role ofbusiness are high. Combined with a growing band ofinternational and homegrown NGOs now engaging withMexican corporations to help raise their game onsustainability, business has a new mandate for action.

To help build the business case for action, the UKGovernment is supporting a study by the UniversidadAutónoma de México on the economic impacts of climatechange. Modelled on the UK’s Stern report, this aims to set out the arguments for action on climate change from aneconomic perspective. Major Mexican and foreign companies with bases in the country are responding well,ramping up their efforts on sustainability, building on a strongtradition of philanthropy and paternalism on social causes[see pp15–17].

Green Futures April 2009

But can sustainabledevelopment really bethe answer to some ofthe crushing social andsecurity problems facingthe rural poor, includingthe surge in drug-related crime? Sarukhánis optimistic: “Helpingpeople in rural areasmake a living by usingtheir natural capitalwould be a hugechange and anenormous sociologicaland psychologicaladvance. It mightmitigate the socialdestruction caused bydrug traffickers.” Hecites the evidencecoming from countlesssmall-scale projects in

Mexico’s rural areas. “InMexico, 75% of the forests are communal property. We havealways considered this as an obstacle but in fact it’s asolution. Mexico is already the world number one forcommunity forests certified as sustainable, preserving naturalcapital and providing an income for the communities that livethere. We need concerted government effort to reproducethese schemes, because if the owners of natural capital don’tsee any value in it, then they will destroy it.”

Mexico’s emergence as a major global economy and abridge between the US and the rest of Latin America brings a new responsibility – for leadership on sustainabledevelopment. With many of the right policy commitments in place, it’s now time to turn promises into reality.

Jonathon Porritt is Founder Director of Forum for the Futureand Chair of the UK Government’s Sustainable DevelopmentCommission. Ben Tuxworth is Communications Director ofForum for the Future. Additional research by Jo Tuckman.

• National Development Plan 2007-2012 putsenvironmental sustainability among fivepriorities.

• National Strategy on Climate Change sets outaction on emission mitigation, with Commissionon Climate Change straddling seven ministries.

• Target of halving greenhouse gas emissions by2050 announced by Environment Minister atDecember 2008 Poznan Climate Conference, tobe followed in early 2009 by unveiling of planson how to meet this goal.

• ProÁrbol campaign aims to plant 250 milliontrees in the next ten years, and expandsustainable forestry by 2.6 million hectares ayear.

• 100-megawatt La Venta wind farm in Oaxaca setto increase capacity tenfold over next six years.

• New National Fisheries and Aquaculture Lawthat calls for much greater accountability inMexico’s fishing industry.

Calderón’s key steps so far

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As I write I am travelling on a three-week adventure throughMexico, from the US border, or ‘La Linea’, as Mexicans knowit, through the northern deserts and on to the southernrainforest of the Yucatán peninsula. Leaving San Diego andcrossing into Tijuana, it’s at once intriguing and charming tosee US law and order blend into the mixture of chaos andbeauty that characterises so much of Mexico. Dry anddusty… rich and poor, but always alive and, these days,always booming.

‘La Linea’ begins as a high wall, but as you travel eastand follow the line, the wall turns into a fence and, finally,hardly an obstacle at all. For the seven million or so illegalimmigrants from Mexico now estimated to reside in the US,the border has been the starting point for a new life. Forcedout of their home towns by poverty, lack of employment andenvironmental degradation, half a million jump the wallevery year as the first part of a long and dangerous journeyin which many die of thirst, exhaustion and fear of beinghunted down.

The landscape and the lightBridging the gap between rich and poor is one of thegreatest challenges facing Mexico on its journey tobecoming a sustainable country. In this border country it’seasy to forget there are plenty of others. Though airpollution and water shortages are still a problem, much ofthe smog and smoke that blighted the area even a few yearsago have diminished. Along with rising awareness ofenvironmental issues, environmental policies, lawenforcement and education have all been brought togetherin the US-Mexican environmental border programme, withimpressive results. The rubbish that used to lie along the

highway has disappeared, and big signs alert drivers to thefines for fly tipping and littering.

So as we drive along the Sonora-Chihuahua border it’snow possible to focus on the sheer beauty of the landscapeand the light. The great planes and big skies remind mewhat a vast country Mexico is, its green and yellow rockybones poking through and turning pink in the sunset, andthe air filled with fresh smells of the earth and floweringplants and the sounds of invisible creatures.

Turning south towards the city of Chihuahua, where theMexican Revolution started, we pass through the aridterritory of northern Mexico. It’s hard to imagine how thesedried out rivers and dams will fill up for a short while andturn the yellow desert green. When it rains, the flora andfauna bloom and grow, and you can see why Mexico is the


Mangroves, monarchsand the end of a world

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On a journey through Mexico’s landscape, Tiahoga Rugebrings us face to face with the country’s diverseenvironment – and its challenges and opportunities.

Tequila sunrise? The agave plant is the source of one ofMexico’s most celebrated pleasures

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and delighted by the sight of millions of monarch butterfliesflying like golden streams against the sun. Saving themonarch means halting illegal logging in the forest, andrepairing the damage done. Although the forest lookshealthy now, it’s been a huge effort to get it to this state,with decades of legislation and resource required to create anew balance between nature conservation and an expandinghuman population. Much of the work has been done by theNational Forest Commission and through ProÁrbol, thenational reforestation campaign launched by PresidentCalderón to mitigate climate change and reduce soil erosion[see p5]. With millions of trees planted by NGOs, businesses,schools and community groups, this kind of collective effortgives me hope that together we can restore what’s been lostin Mexico.

Crucial coastlines The road south takes us through Mexico City, then on toVeracruz, Oaxaca, Tabasco and Campeche. The wetlands andmangroves that once lined the Gulf of Mexico have been inretreat for decades. Their biological value as nurseries formarine species and the sponge effect they offer whenhurricanes hit is at last being recognised by public policy, withmangrove protection at the heart of new legislation.

Achieving such protection has been difficult, with thepowerful tourism industry seeing mangrove coastline as theperfect place for development, on the sun-drenched stretchesof the Pacific and Caribbean coasts. Alternative developmentmodels have started to offer a new approach to managingthese areas in a sustainable way, such as in La Ventanilla onthe coast of Oaxaca, where local communities havedeveloped new ways to combine mangrove restoration,capacity building and ecotourism – a vision which has at lastcaught the eye of the mainstream industry.

On to Cancún, where the beautiful turquoise ocean lapsagainst white sand beaches. Hundreds of hotels have turned

fourth most biodiverse country in the world. Nearly 12% ofthe country is now protected, with a total of 164 separatesites in the national system co-ordinated by the NationalCommission of Natural Protected Areas. The Commission’sprofessional teams oversee the conservation and sustainablemanagement of these areas, in a strategy that has proved aneffective means of slowing the loss of habitats and diversity.Encouraging ecotourism, building local capacity and creatingsustainable economic activities have been the mainstays ofthe approach.

In central Mexico the landscape supports a largerpopulation, and agriculture and crops have led in manyplaces to overexploitation of the aquifers. Agriculture is themain consumer of water in Mexico. Water extraction isincreasingly difficult and expensive in energy terms, so jointefforts between the Agriculture Ministry and the NationalWater Commission are being directed towards more efficientirrigation systems and alternative energy sources. Pumpingand transporting water is still largely powered by fossil fuels,although Mexico’s newly approved energy reforms alsoinclude laws promoting sustainable energy. This should openthe door for small-scale power generation based around solarpower and wind, as well as the development of biofuels; thejatropha plant that recently fuelled one of the engines of anAir New Zealand jet is now being cultivated in Mexico.

A new scheme of payments for environmental serviceshas proved an effective conservation tool in the Sierra GordaBiosphere Reserve in Querétaro. Here, 18 years of communityeducation and partnership work by local conservationorganisation Grupo Ecológico Sierra Gorda and itscommercial arm Bosque Sustentable have helped regulatelogging and develop microbusinesses based in the forest,showing how sustainable development can be achieved [see p22–23].

As we continue our journey south we climb highmountain ranges covered with pine trees, and I’m surprised


“Energy reforms could open the door to solar and wind power”

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But not impossible. Rising awareness, through formaleducation in schools and large environmental campaigns byNGOs and mass media, the growth in clean technologies,better design and planning, enforcement of environmentallaw, the trend towards sustainable tourism and agriculture,greater public participation and, above all, sustainable socialand economic policies, can still make the difference and putMexicans on the path to sustainability. Mexicans know thatnature is worth more than money: the trick is to start livingin a different way.

My journey ends on the beach in Tulum – one of themost beautiful places I have ever visited. I snorkel throughthe crystal waters to the gap in the reef through which theMaya first passed to settle this paradise. The Mayan calendarends its 5,000-year cycle in the year 2012, when the Katunprophecy forecasts the end of the world.

Is the world ending, or is it just the end of the world aswe know it today? In September last year, PresidentCalderón announced that Mexico would be hosting WorldEnvironment Day on 5 June 2009. This is a fabulousopportunity for the country to set itself on track to becomean exemplar of sustainable development, and show how anew world can begin.

Mexican environmentalist and film-maker Tiahoga Ruge isthe former Director of Mexico’s Centre of Education andTraining for Sustainable Development, (CECADESU) andConsultant Editor of Viva la vida verde.

the Riviera Maya into one of the most popular destinationsfor millions of US and British tourists, and also for countlessMexicans, who head here to join the booming touristeconomy. South from Cancún are ecotourism resorts anddevelopments including Xcaret and Xel-Ha, offering a newway to enjoy the natural and cultural diversity of Mexico [see p30]. Mayan archaeological sites such as Chichen Itzaand Cobá bring tourists inland, sometimes as far as thehigher rainforest where older Mayan sites such as Palenque,Bonampak and Yaxchilan also hold the key to theconservation of the surrounding rainforest, with natural andcultural heritage jointly protected.

Beneath the Yucatán Peninsula lie the largestunderground freshwater reserves in Mexico. Conserving thisfragile resource requires co-ordinated efforts over a vastarea, including action to protect what remains of therainforest above. As previously untouched forest succumbsto ‘environmentally friendly’ development all across the landbetween Cancún and Tulum, the area left as the mainprovider of environmental services for the region is shrinkingfast. As in so much of Mexico, the challenge to retain whatis best and yet provide for the population is both urgent andenormous.

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Clockwise from above: Jungle jam: a Mayan woman plants afruit tree in a Travel Foundation-backed local incomegeneration projectSolar clearing: policy favours PVTurquoise attraction: Tulum’s tourist gem


While the monarch butterfly is not endangered, its amazing migration is – because logging operations and land-use changes have damaged

vital forest sanctuaries. So, in 2000, WWF and partners helped set up the$6.75 million Monarch Butterfly Conservation Fund, which rewards

communities whose land is not degraded by logging – and also pays forconservation activities such as ecotourism and reforestation.

Results are impressive. Michoacán has been included in the list of UNESCO’sWorld Heritage Sites since 2003, and the Fund has transferred nearly $1.8 million to32 landowners in the ‘core zone’ of the reserve. While rates of forest degradation in

properties not participating in the fund have increased ninefold, degradation in fundedproperties is down by some 56%. There is also more effort to use tourism as a catalyst forregional development, with visitors asked to purchase tickets and contract a local guide.WWF has also been working with Telcel, Latin America’s largest mobile phone company,along with the Government, to offer better alternatives to logging to local inhabitants.

“Conservation of the area is in the hands of local communities,” explains Omar Vidal, Directorof WWF-México. “What we have to do – the government, social organisations and the privatesector – is offer economic alternatives; you cannot ask people to conserve the forest and die of

hunger.” – Ron Mader and Chris Alden

A sanctuary for butterflies

The monarch butterfly is one of nature’s most remarkable long-distance travellers. Each spring,the insects migrate in their millions from their winter home, the Butterfly Biosphere Reserve

in Mexico – and although those who depart will never return, their descendants arriveback eight months later, after a journey that takes them as far as eastern Canada. Their

Mexican home was discovered in 1974, when researchers traced the butterflies’flight path south to Michoacán, There, butterflies cling to oyamel trees in such

numbers that branches break under the weight. The spectacle made thecovers of National Geographic and Scientific American, inadvertentlyprompting a tourism boom in the small rural towns in the area.

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Even the President’s political adversaries have joined in.Marcelo Ebrard [above], the leftwing mayor of Mexico City, isa fierce critic of many of Calderón’s pro-business policies.Because of their political differences, Ebrard stayed away fromthe recent ceremony at which the President unveiled MexicoCity’s first suburban electric railway line – cutting literally hoursof travel time for commuters travelling in from the north ofthe huge megacity. But the concern that both leaders areshowing for the environment, and the new emphasis onpublic transport, has already been reflected in a marked


Mexico’s environment secretary, Juan Elvira Quesada, madeheadlines when he announced at the Poznan ClimateConference in December 2008 that his country aims to slashits emissions of greenhouses gases in half by mid-century.

Yet the announcement hardly came as a surprise to thosewho have followed Mexico’s recent efforts to fight globalwarming. Since President Felipe Calderón came to power twoyears ago, the struggle to improve the environment, togetherwith the war on organised crime, has been a major drivingforce of his administration [see pp4–5].


Climate change is not the only problem facing the world, but it holds the key to the future of Mexico’s economy. Ron Buchanan looks at the country’s efforts to kick thehigh-carb habit.

More energy…less carbon

Cycle city: the capital’s mayor leads the way

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improvement in air conditions in the notoriouslysmog-bound capital. Cars still account for morethan half of its carbon dioxide emissions – but inDecember 2008, Ebrard inaugurated a second,east-west line of the Metrobus mass transitsystem. Intersecting with the original Line 1which opened in 2005, this will not only helpfurther reduce local air pollution, but also make a significant contribution to cutting greenhousegas emissions.

Guadalajara, the nation’s second city, refusesto be left behind. Its own Macrobus rapid transitsystem is negotiating the international sale ofcredits for the carbon emissions it saves. It’sdoing so under an accord with the multilateralAndean Development Corporation, which hasalready clinched sales of carbon bonds for theTransMilenio high-speed bus system in theColombian capital, Bogotá.

Calderón is taking his campaign for a betterenvironment on to the world stage as well, pressing for theestablishment of a Green Fund for the reduction of emissions,to which all nations will be invited to contribute.

Ambitious targetsMexican officials are concerned that the country’sgeographical location, its fragile biodiversity, the poverty ofmuch of its population and the dependence of its emergingeconomy on oil production make it vulnerable to a wide rangeof environmental disasters. Already Calderón has said thatrecent severe hurricane and flood damage, particularly insouthern states, is a warning of what the future could hold as the planet warms.

Yet not everyone supports his ambition to play a leadingrole in the fight against climate change. Manuel J Jáuregui, an influential newspaper columnist, recently noted: “Mexicancompanies – above all, those in the petrochemicals industry –are going to have to absorb the cost of major investmentsthat many of their competitors will not be obliged to make.”Jáuregui emphasised that he was not calling for indiscriminatepollution. “Rather it’s a case of having to strike an intelligentbalance between the country’s economic outlook, the state ofits industry – and the issue of the environment.”

Which is just what Juan Mata, Director General of ClimateChange Policy at the Environment Ministry, is aiming to do. He is currently working on ways of delivering the long-termcommitment to halve carbon emissions that was promised byhis boss in Poznan. Specific targets will be announced byCalderón early in 2009, he says. The main one has yet to bedefined, but it could be as much as a reduction of 70 milliontonnes of carbon emissions by 2012.

“It’s an ambitious target and it cuts across the wholeeconomy,” Mata says. “The electricity sector, for example, will have to put more emphasis on renewables and cleanfossil-fuel technologies. The oil industry will have to reduceflaring of natural gas in association with oil production.Mexico is building about 700,000 new homes a year. So we could offer ‘green mortgages’ that encourage theincorporation of energy-saving measures. And there is much more that can be done. We could have more, and more efficient, public transport... solar power for waterheating... energy-saving lightbulbs... boost programmes of reforestation... the modernisation of farming... waterrecycling... the list goes on.”

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Veracruz climate action plan

When floods swept across the coastal state ofVeracruz on the Mexican Gulf in 2005, the countryhad a taste of what a warmer world might hold. Sealevel rise and disrupted weather patterns are a threatto a number of the state’s main towns, along with itsfreshwater system, electricity supply – and 600km ofbeach front, which includes the tourist honey pots ofthe Costa Esmeralda and Veracruz Boca del Río.

Now with support from the UK Government’sGlobal Opportunities Fund, and resources from theNational Institute of Ecology, Veracruz is the focus forMexico’s first state-level plan of action on climate.

Launched for public consultation in November2008, the plan sets out a list of costed actions foradapting to and mitigating climate change, based onan inventory of greenhouse gas emissions andscenarios for the effect of global trends on its climateand landscape. Speaking at the launch in Xalapa,Veracruz Governor Fidel Herrera emphasised hisgovernment’s commitment to act in the short,medium and long term to address climate change and achieve sustainability. British Ambassador GilesPaxman welcomed the state government’scommitment to action, and argued that theinternational financial crisis should not become abarrier. “We need bold action now, or futuregenerations will face greater costs,” he said. SinceVeracruz began its work other states including NuevoLeon, Mexico City and Baja California have beguntheir own climate change action plans. – Ben Tuxworth

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Another proven approach is to get companies to share –and therefore reduce – resources such as energy, water,materials and facilities. The UK-Mexico SustainableDevelopment Dialogue is working with businesses in theToluca-Lerma region through the National Industrial SymbiosisProgramme. One of the 90 ‘synergies’ under way is expectedto save 75,000 tonnes of CO2 in one year. The project hasidentified just under 1,000 business opportunities in theregion and there is interest in starting similar programmes inthree other states.

Calderón wants the private sector to take a prominent rolein the plan by providing companies with access to finance thatwill help them to update technology and reduce pollution.Mexico already has a voluntary register of greenhouse gasemissions whose contributors include several leadingcompanies in such energy-hungry industries as cement andsteel, as well as the state oil monopoly, Pemex.

Officials are keen to pursue international funding forcarbon reduction projects, such as that offered by the CleanDevelopment Mechanism (CDM). To exploit this to the full,they want to encourage more co-operation between theprivate and public sectors, and within the different levels ofgovernment. “If you have a CDM plan to cut energyconsumption for public lighting in one city, for example, whynot get neighbouring towns to join in? That way you magnifythe benefits,” says Mata.

The elephant in the room is across the Río GrandeOn the international front, he adds, Mexico supports efforts toset carbon reduction targets, so long as they are on avoluntary basis for developing countries and without prejudiceto any benefits that might accrue to the country from theCDM. “Mexico wants reductions in carbon emissions that areaccompanied by economic mechanisms that can helpdeveloping countries to pay for the necessary new technology.That’s what lies behind the Green Fund initiative.”

The Fund would be based on the principle of sharedresponsibility. It would not be a traditional scheme in whichthe industrialised nations finance projects in the developingworld. “Everyone would take part, though contributionswould be in accordance with the economic ability of eachcountry and benefits would be greater for those in greatestneed.” Nor would the Green Fund replace existing initiatives.“The idea is that it should coexist with, for example, theWorld Bank’s current efforts.”

Mexico, however, opposes the imposition of any bindingcommitments that some industrialised nations are seeking forKyoto 2. “Obviously that’s an issue that’s going to have to benegotiated, ”says Mata. “Mexico doesn’t favour loose targets,but it wants commitments to be voluntary,” albeit with anincentive for compliance. “Countries that meet their targetsshould be rewarded with access to new sources of finance.”Such a scheme, Mexican officials argue, could be moreamenable to developing countries, whose needs andaspirations vary greatly.

The elephant in the room is, of course, Mexico’s neighbourand main trading partner, the United States. The electoralvictory of Barack Obama points to a “very promising future,”says Mata. “We hope that the US will now take a leading roleon climate change.” But here change is not only coming inWashington. “We’ve seen a lot of progress at state level. AndMexico and US border states have already agreed on jointefforts to mitigate climate change.”

Ron Buchanan is a Veracruz-based freelance journalist.

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A cleaner – but still environmentally damaging –option would be LPG-fuelled stoves, but for theseone-woman businesses, they are an expense too far.Now, a local NGO, the Grupo Interdisciplinario deTecnología Rural Apropiada (GIRA), has developed asimple, affordable cookstove, specially designed fortortilla production as well as general householdcooking.

The ‘Patsari’ stove, as it’s known, uses just onehalf of the fuelwood of the traditional variety and,just as importantly, is 70% less polluting, thanks toimproved combustion and a better chimney, whichdramatically reduce the amount of smoke emitted.Studies show that among women who use the Patsaristove, there are 50% fewer eye infections, and 30%fewer incidences of respiratory disease, comparedwith those using the traditional variety.

The stove was developed in consultation withthe local women themselves, which, GIRA believes,explains its rapid adoption across the region. Its triplesuccess in boosting quality of life, reducing pollutionand curbing deforestation helped win it a prestigiousAshden Award for Sustainable Energy in 2006.– Martin Wright

The stove that cleans kitchens

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Around 95% of rural households in Mexico still cookover wood fires. This is hardly a recipe forsustainability: forests are literally being burnt to cooksupper, while women and children suffer from theeffects of inhaling wood smoke at close quarters, dayin, day out.

It’s a particular problem among Amerindiancommunities up in the Central Highlands, wherethousands of micro-enterprises run by womenproduce hand-made tortillas cooked over open firesfor long hours each day.

Green Futures April 2009 13

Green Futures: What do you see as Mexico’s role inthe global effort to tackle climate change?Mario Molina: As a leader among developingcountries. First of all, we can take the measuresnecessary to reduce emissions – and also show that thiscan be done at the same time as reinforcing economicdevelopment. It’s as simple as explaining that moreefficient energy use is good for the economy and thatthe measures to make this happen need to beimplemented now.

As part of the National Strategy on Climate Changeannounced by the Mexican Government in 2007, weare currently developing a special programmespecifying the projects that will be carried out, whenthey will start, and what regulations have to bechanged. [The programme is expected to includecommitments to early and dramatic carbon cuts.] Weare in a hurry to get this programme out early this year,even though it won’t contain all the details, becausewe want it to make an impact in time for the nextround of international negotiations in Copenhagen [in December 2009].

Mexico is also showing leadership on internationalfinancing mechanisms for climate change action. TheGreen Fund proposed by President Calderón wouldmake resources from Mexico and other developingcountries available internationally – a major changefrom the old perception that developing countries willonly act to the extent that they receive funds from therich world. Of course, the expectation is that much ofthe funds [provided by developing countries] can berecovered because actions will reduce emissions. Theexisting funding is actually very limited, and is not

“We are ready – wecannot wait any longer”

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Mexico can lead the developing world towards a new deal on climate change. So says Dr Mario Molina, the Nobel prize-winning scientist who now advisesboth the Mexican and the US presidents.

working very well; the so-called CDM and carbon bondsare designed just for specific projects, so they have allsorts of difficulties providing incentives for govern-ments to make policy changes. GF: But is Mexican society ready to take on a globalleadership role on this issue?MM: We still have a difficult task in convincing widersociety of the need for these changes. But I believe weare ready; we cannot wait any longer. We can startwith government officials and investors – and at thesame time communicate to the wider public that this isa very serious problem that we need to address. Themessage is three-pronged. First, the consequences ofclimate change can be very dramatic: Mexico is veryvulnerable to flooding, for instance, in places likeTabasco, and to droughts in the north. Second, ifMexico contributes actively, we can help convince therest of the world to act too. Thirdly, we can do thiswithout delaying economic growth. This last point isvery important because poverty in Mexico remains sucha major problem.

Mario Molina shared the Nobel Prize forChemistry in 1995 for his work on CFCs and thedepletion of the ozone layer. Long associatedwith efforts to improve air quality in megacities,he has more recently become an internationallyrecognised voice on climate change. A memberof WWF-México’s Senior Advisory Council, he isinvolved in shaping current Mexican policy onthis issue. And, as Professor of Chemistry andBiochemistry at the University of California at SanDiego, he has also joined US President Obama’stransition team, heading a group on science andtechnology policy.

Shining light: can Mexico lead on climate finance?

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GF: Is the Mexican business elite also showingenvironmental leadership?MM: We still have a lot to do on that front, I think.Some industries are indeed leaders, particularly thosewith a truly international outlook: our cement industry,for instance, competes globally and is very aware of theenvironmental issues. But we still have our work cutout to get it across more widely that we have a realproblem. And the business world is lagging behind onthis. That would be true in the US and Europe too, butin Mexico we are further behind.GF: How do you think the world economic crisis willaffect the climate change issue?MM: It is certainly a problem. The financial crisis maydelay the raising of funds for new technologies – but,on the other hand, [recession] will slow the rate ofgrowth of greenhouse gases. And it will underline theimportance of using energy more efficiently. It is widelyrecognised that we shouldn’t wait for the economiccrisis to be over [before taking action on globalwarming] – not least because many of the actions weare considering result in net economic gains. [We cansee that] in the US, where the new administration’sstimulus package includes some environmentalmeasures. For example, we want buildings to be moreenergy-efficient. This is cheaper to do through newbuildings, but the economic crisis means there is not somuch new-build as before. We can still talk aboutretrofit, however – and that requires a lot ofmanpower. So we can address the two issues at once –creating jobs, and doing something to mitigate climatechange. GF: What are the most pressing bilateral environmentalissues affecting Mexico and the US?

MM: We have done relatively little about air quality inthe border region, which is one important problemarea. Another relates to the disposal of old cars, trucksand buses. It doesn’t make sense if US regulations onvehicle efficiency merely lead to the export of the oldones just across the border into Mexico; they should be[dealt with] in the US.

Bilateral issues aren’t always just about problems,however; they can be about opportunities too. There’sthe possibility of setting up a common carbon tradingsystem for all of North America, for example; in somecases it could be cheaper to reduce emissions in Mexico[than in Canada or the US].

Water availability is a very important issue, too…There are bilateral agreements [governing water use inborder areas] which I think we could re-examine. Butwe must try to tackle the issue together. We havecommon ecological systems along the border, andissues with fisheries that need consideration.Desalination, which is now less expensive than it usedto be, may also be an opportunity worth exploring.GF: Is Mexico ready to host World Environment Day?MM: I think we will be, in the sense of having madecommitments to move in the right direction, ratherthan having actually implemented many projects.Climate change is, of course, a very importantchallenge – perhaps the most serious that humanity hasfaced. But there are other environmental issues withwhich we need to concern ourselves too; biodiversity,for instance, and sustainable development in general.We need to work very hard to really open a windowand show the world that we are serious.

Mario Molina was talking to Tiahoga Ruge and Jo Tuckman.


Degrees of concern: Greenpeacecharts the climate danger

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Doing business with the poorAs Mexico climbs the ladder of rich nations, can businessbring the poor out of poverty without destroying theenvironment? Ben Tuxworth gets engaged with thecorporate culture.

Less than a decade ago, Mexico was still in the grip of 70years’ uninterrupted rule by the Partido RevolucionarioInstitucional (PRI). Even now, it is still only developing the kindof vibrant civil society on which European and US models ofcorporate social responsibility so heavily depend.

As a result, the conventional measures of businesssustainability suggest that Mexican companies still have along way to go. KPMG’s 2008 corporate responsibility surveyfound that, of the 100 largest companies in Mexico, only 27published any kind of corporate social responsibility (CSR)report in 2008, and that, of these, only five involved thirdparties in comment or assurance. Oil and gas companyPemex, and mining giant Industrias Peñoles, were among justsix Mexican companies (compared with 48 from Brazil) to fileCSR reports with the Global Reporting Initiative – althoughboth did distinguish themselves by garnering A+ ratings.

But things are changing fast. A survey in May of 2008 byVivian Blair and Associates showed a growing appetite fromconsumers for action by business and government, with73% saying their expectations of businesses‘ responsibilityare not being met, and 37% claiming to be willing tochange their buying habits to support a worthy cause.Numbers like these explain why consumers are at last gettinga voice with which to apply pressure to business.

Alconsumidor is one of two independent consumerorganisations established in Mexico in the last few years.

Cemex lays thefoundations for low-cost homes

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Like such groups everywhere, their aim is to help consumersmake better choices, support them when things go wrong,and ultimately to encourage business and government toraise standards. Alconsumidor has a strong public face, withtheir website encouraging consumers to share their stories ofcorporates – good and bad – online, and founder DanielGershenson taking on the issues of the day in a blog hostedby the respected Mexico City daily newspaper, Reforma.Meanwhile, rival group El Poder Del Consumidor has recentlyjoined forces with civil society network Red Puentes andothers, including Oxfam Novib, to form the Centro deInformación del Comportamiento Empresarial (CorporateBehaviour Information Centre). This will act as a corporateobservatory, providing and supporting campaigns againstcompanies with poor social responsibility practices.

All of which will serve to drive change. But in onerespect at least, a lack of a strong third sector has notstopped action by business. To some commentators, Westerneyes misinterpret the Mexican social responsibility scene.


In emerging economies, people expect business – particularlystate-owned businesses – to provide the social welfare notyet offered by government. Jean Logsdon of the Universityof New Mexico sees a distinctive history of socialcontribution by business in Mexico, much of it filling a voidleft by government. “While the role of NGOs has not beenas important in promoting CSR as in other countries,Mexican firms have undertaken a social role for historicaland cultural reasons, based on Mexico’s religious andpolitical history… While in other contexts corporatecitizenship metaphorically treats the corporation as a citizen,in Mexico corporations are literally treated by Mexicansociety as real citizens, with responsibilities to match.”

With such a large proportion of the population living inpoverty (Mexico has a median annual household income of

exemplar bottom-of-the-pyramid offer. After carrying outresearch in deprived communities in Guadalajara, Cemexconcluded that housing construction was hampered by lackof resources and knowhow, with poor customers unable tokeep contractors working, and materials wasted because oflack of storage space.

Points of lightIn response, Cemex developed Patrimonio Hoy. It allows low-income families to order construction materials in smallquantities in the right sequence, paid for with microfinancefrom Cemex. The typical cost for a family is about $16 perweek, most of which goes on the materials, with theremainder covering access to advice, a guarantee on fixedprices, storage and delivery. By May 2008, 205,000 Mexican


$7,297), Mexican businesses seemed to notice C.K. Prahalad’s‘fortune at the bottom of the pyramid’ (the idea that millionsof low-income consumers provide an ideal market) wellbefore he did. For a century or more, a wide range ofbusinesses have been finding ways to sell things to the poor,with a mixture of commercial, philanthropic and developmentgoals. Today, there’s more activity than ever.

Entrepreneur Ricardo Salinas recalls his grandfather saying“if you want to get rich, sell to the poor”. His Grupo Salinasis now a huge empire of companies selling consumerelectronics (via his Grupo Elektra), broadcast media (via TVAzteca) and the financial services to pay for it all – viaSalinas’s Banco Azteca, one of a number of new microfinanceoperations reaching low-income consumers. With loansaveraging just $247, Azteca has helped countless low-incomeconsumers get a slice of material affluence, from DVD playersto motorbikes. But with an APR somewhere between 55%and 100%, it’s also turned out to be a hugely profitablemodel. Azteca, and others like it – including CompartamosBanco and FinComún – have attracted criticism for selling thepoor and uneducated loans they barely understand and, inreality, may not be able to afford.

Though Salinas’s business practices have landed him up incourt in recent years, there are many who defend themicrofinance route, and other companies have found muchmore approval in Mexico by offering something to thepoorest consumers. With a severe housing shortage affectingover 20 million people, in 1998 building materials giantCemex started work on another scheme that has become an

families had used Patrimonio Hoy, borrowing the equivalentof around $94 million, and building around 105,000 10m2

rooms. Cemex claims that 99% of these loans have beenpaid back. The scheme has won awards from Business in theCommunity among others, has been extended to Colombia,Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica, and may now berolled out in other countries in the Cemex global empire.

Pemex and Industrias Peñoles make contrasting examplesof how homegrown Mexican business is rising to thechallenge of sustainable development. To Juan Felipe Cajiga,who leads on corporate social responsibility at the CentroMexicano para la Filantropía (CEMEFI), Industrias Peñoles is anexemplar of community engagement. Made up of more than50 companies, it is the world’s largest producer of silver,alongside a range of other metals and minerals; it operates innine states in Mexico, and employs nearly 10,000 people.

Peñoles’ largest mine, Tizapa [above left], lies in themunicipality of Zacazonapan – about 200km west of MexicoCity – and provides employment to around 20% of Tizapa’s4,000 inhabitants. Since 1999, representatives of thecommunity, Peñoles and the local state have been meeting asthe Committee for Development of Zacazonapan. This haswork teams on education, health, ecology, culture, sport andinfrastructure, and supports the local authority in these areas.Peñoles has been taking its lead from the committee in theTizapa mine, pursuing a strategy of sustainable development,which, according to Cajiga, has helped both Peñoles and thepeople of Tizapa overcome “the pre-existent paternalisticculture, in which authorities and business… create

A new perspective on responsible business: [inset, left toright] Tizapa’s miners pioneer a new approach; Pemexcomes clean on carbon

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dependence and apathy”. Where the traditional model wassimply to provide community demands, Peñoles has becomean enabler, helping the community access developmentresources from government and NGOs.

The results in Zacazonapan have been significant. Alongwith a new health centre, sports arena, school bus, andwaste management infrastructure, are new phone lines,ambulances, a TV network and a wide range of events,educational programmes and a public market. The work hasalso helped Peñoles build trust with its employees, showleadership and enhance its reputation.

Pemex, the state-owned company created bynationalising 17 foreign oil companies in the 1930s, and nowthe biggest enterprise in Latin America, is on what mightseem a more conventional track. A high tax burden (Pemex is

the largest taxpayer in Mexico, contributing about a third ofgovernment revenues) and falling oil prices have put thesqueeze on, but Pemex has been reporting on its social andenvironmental performance in different ways since 1999,finally gaining its Global Reporting Initiative’s (GRI) A+ statusin 2008.

Though it might seem odd for a state-owned companywith no competitors, and little need for external investment,to bother with such thorough reporting, this seems to reflecta more general need within Mexican business to be trusted.Certainly the Pemex reports try hard to demonstrate thistrustworthiness, with claims backed up by TransparencyInternational and GRI itself – and results include a programmeof energy saving within the company which has alreadyreduced its emissions by about 11 million tonnes of carbon a year.

Local business, global standardAs a culture around sustainability and social responsibilitydevelops in Mexican business circles, homegrown initiativesare emerging to help formalise their response. CEMEFI andthe Alliance for Corporate Social Responsibility now run asocially responsible enterprise award scheme, recognisingcompanies operating in Mexico that show a “fundamentalsocial vision in both policies and programmes that allowsthem to go beyond their legal obligations... achieving successin their businesses while at the same time having a positiveimpact on the communities in which they operate”. Thescheme evaluates firms against four criteria: quality of thework environment; ethics and governance; links with the

community; and care and preservation of the naturalenvironment. Over 400 companies are now on the CEMEFI track.

Meanwhile, transnational corporations and NGOs fromthe US, Europe and elsewhere are bringing their CSR cultureto Mexico. The World Business Council for SustainableDevelopment and the World Resources Institute were behindthe launch of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol in Mexico in2004. By 2008, more than 50 major companies were trackingtheir CO2, giving policymakers access to data on 35% of thecountry’s industrial emissions, and giving companies access toprofitable offset schemes through the Kyoto Protocol’s CleanDevelopment Mechanism. Mexico is also the best-representedLatin American country in the UN’s Global Compact, with367 companies signed up to its voluntary corporate socialresponsibility initiative.

In 2008, the Mexican subsidiaries of Coca-Cola, Philips,Natura, Wal-Mart and Unilever got together to form GrupoTransforma, a new collaboration for sustainable development.Their first project is to commission a mobile exhibition onsustainable development aimed at children, to be hosted firstby Mexico City’s Museum of the Child. But their aim isultimately much grander: recognising the colossal economicimpact of North American companies they have set out toraise awareness and generate action on the big issues likeclimate change, in partnership with the growing band ofnational and international NGOs in Mexico.

Ben Tuxworth is Communications Director at Forum for the Future.

“In Mexico corporations

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with responsibilities

to match”

18

It was all so different half a millennium ago. As the Spanishconquistadors first gazed down on Tenochtitlán, today’sMexico City, they gazed in wonder. What was then probablythe world’s largest city was built on a huge lake, a glitteringVenice of the New World.

The chronicler Bernal Díaz del Castillo described a whitecity “embowered in trees and surrounded by the blue watersof the lake sparkling under a tropical sun, a lake that wasalive with a multitude of canoes passing and repassing to theother white cities on its shores, and in every direction thehorizon was closed with a splendid panorama of forest-covered hills, while to the southeast the eye always restedwith delight on the beautiful slopes and snow-covered peaksof the two great volcanoes.”

Unequal distributionWhen the 16th-century Spanish colonial urban plannersdecided to drain the lakes, they unwittingly condemned allfuture generations to a constant battle to get rain and liquidwaste out of the city. Today only vestiges of the lake remain,and Iztapalapa, a town at whose gardens Díaz del Castillomarvelled, has been swallowed up by a polluted megacity ofmore than 20 million inhabitants. And with the population

explosion of the 20th century came the additional crisis ofoverexploitation of the underground aquifer that oncesupplied all the city’s clean water needs with ease. Water nolonger abounds. In some of Iztapalapa’s hardscrabbleneighbourhoods, people depend on tanker trucks forsupplies, and spend up to 20% of their wages on bottledwater.

Water – or lack of it – is one of modern Mexico’s mostpressing problems. Its distribution is unequal in every sense.Rain falls almost exclusively in summer, leaving long monthsof drought. The relatively undeveloped south of the countrygets 80% of the rainfall – but economic development hasbeen out of kilter with nature. Industry, much of it linked tothe US economy, is heavily concentrated on the arid centreand north. 77% of the population lives here, producing 87%of GDP – and putting the underground aquifers underextreme pressure. Yet, while electrical power flows hundredsof miles to Mexico City from huge hydroelectric dams in thestate of Chiapas, one in four of the latter’s population lackspotable water. In southern states such as Guerrero, thatproportion is as high as four in ten.

The treatment of wastewater, as officials freely admit, isanother issue on which not enough has been done in the

Green Futures April 2009 www.greenfutures.org.uk

Fresh water

Lots of water where people aren’t, not much where they are, anda historic blunder by the conquistadors have left Mexico with afreshwater crisis. Ron Buchanan welcomes a boost to watertreatment budgets – but it’s time for fresh thinking too.

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“In parts of Iztapalapa,

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past. “The level of development of Mexico’s economy,internationally speaking, bears no relation to the extremelylow level (40%) of wastewater treatment,” says José LuisLuege, head of the National Water Commission, the CNA. “A lot of countries with economies similar to ours, in SouthAmerica and Europe, treat 100% of their waste water. As anation, we’ve built up a huge backlog.”

At least this is being tackled now. “We have opened 92wastewater treatment plants in the last two years,” saysLuege – evidence of the Calderón administration’scommitment. The CNA will be a beneficiary of Calderón’sresolve to fight recession by boosting public spending oninfrastructure. Some 70% of its $2.4 billion budget for thenext year will be spent on improving access to potable waterand the construction of more treatment plants.

Among the bids it will be inviting is a massive project atAtotonilco on the outskirts of Mexico City, to build nothingless than the world’s largest water-treatment plant. A schemewith a series of failed precedents, and a current projectedprice tag of more than $2.3 billion, Atotonilco is part of adrive to ensure that both the capital and the country’s secondcity, Guadalajara, have the capability to treat 100% of theirwastewater. And it comes not a moment too soon, arguesCecilia Tortajada, Vice-President of the Mexico-based ThirdWorld Centre for Water Management. “Only time will tell ifthe project will be completed,” she warns.

The picture Tortajada paints of Mexico City gives seriousgrounds for concern. “The groundwater table is rising byaround one metre each year,” she says. “Subsidence ofseveral parts of the city has resulted in extensive and costlydamage to both surface and below-ground infrastructure,including water supply and drainage.” And, she adds, “the

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According to J. Eugenio Barrios, Director of thewatershed management programme for WWF-México, there are now 101 ‘overexploited’ aquifers inMexico – i.e. those from which more water is usedthan is replenished by rain. In the late 1970s therewere only 32. So, in three vital river basins – RíoConchos, Copalita-Zimatán-Huatulco and San Pedro-Mezquital – WWF and the Foundation Gonzalo RíoArronte have defined the ‘environmental flow’, orthe amount of water a basin needs to help aquifersrecover and maintain river habitats. Then, WWF hasworked with charities and communities to helpconserve what water is left.

In the low-income community of San MiguelSuchixeptec, in Copalita-Zimatán-Huatulco, they havehelped local people conserve water – by supportingnot only sanitation projects but also reforestation, tohelp mitigate the impact of storms or droughts.Barrios says four measures made the scheme a modelfor others of its kind: “community agreement onforest and water conservation; feasible solutions toimprove water services; enough investment topromote commitment from community members;and clear improvement in living conditions”.– Chris Alden

How much wateris enough?


perception that the quality of tap water is not suitable fordrinking purposes has an enormous impact on the economyof the country.” Per capita consumption of bottled water inMexico is the highest in the world, and nearly twice that ofthe United States.

Promising pipesOver the years, the response to the growing demand forwater has been to build new infrastructure. Today the FederalDistrict (known as the DF, and comprising the centre andsouthern suburbs of Mexico City) imports about a third of thewater it uses from outside the valley. Now, however, achievingself-sufficiency in water is a major element of the DF’s ‘PlanVerde’ [see pp24–26]. “We have to change the way we thinkabout the water we consume; we have to start treating it likemoney in a bank account, and use only what we have,” sayslocal Environment Minister Martha Delgado. “Not to do this isvery risky for the city. We can’t depend on negotiations with

other states whose own water needs are expanding quickly.”The Plan promises to completely replace a network ofunderground water distribution pipes that currently losesabout 13m3 a second. But a lasting solution to Mexico’s waterproblems must be more than merely technical. So the Planalso foresees a drive to reduce consumption, and toencourage the capture and use of rain water for householduse. There are also pledges of unprecedented efforts to stopland invasions in green areas on the semi-rural southern fringe– green areas that are essential to replenishment of theunderground water basin.

Mexico may never recover the sparkling, forest-cradledwaterscape which greeted the conquistadors – but if plans likethis succeed, it will at least escape the fate of beingrediscovered by archaeologists, centuries hence, as a concreteruin in a desert dry as dust.

Additional material by Jo Tuckman.

The Big Bend of the Río Grande/Bravo – the stretchof river along the border between the US andMexico – is one of the icons of the North Americanlandscape. A rich but fragile desert ecosystem, it is home to cacti, black bears, geckos, falcons andcougars. Due in part to diversion of the river,however, this boundary ecosystem has becomeseverely degraded – and there is even a 150-mile-long ‘forgotten reach’ just upstream of Big Bendwhere the river disappears altogether from view.

Today, 75% of flows come from the RíoConchos basin in Mexico – which is, in turn, underthreat from overexploitation, deforestation, habitatdestruction and pollution from agrochemicals, notto mention 12 years of drought between 1994 and 2006.

That’s why WWF-México focused its attentionon ‘integrated river basin management’ in the RíoConchos – which aims to reverse the deteriorationof the ecosystem by 2050, and increase the qualityof life of the basin’s indigenous residents.

“Irrigated agriculture accounts for more than90% of the water use in the basin,” explains WWF-México’s Mauricio Mauricio de la Maza. Now, atDelicias – the biggest irrigation area – farmers andthe government have worked together on aconservation scheme which has cut water use forirrigation by 2003 hectometres a year – almost one-fifth of total water use. – Chris Alden

Mending the

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Fishing for good

It might sound surprising, but the Chihuahuan Desert innorthern Mexico is home to one of the richest and mostcomplex fish fauna in the world. The 30 native fish of theRío Conchos include extraordinary species like the Julimespupfish, known as the ‘hottest fish in the world’ thanksto its adaptation to inhabit hot springs of up to 470C, andsuch rarities as the Conchos trout, of which there are onlyaround 100 left, inhabiting a stretch of river only akilometre or so long.

WWF has focused its efforts on helping securehabitats for these species of fish – and at the same timeensuring the sustainable development of localcommunities. For the Julimes pupfish, it worked toestablish a non-profit organisation of landowners andresidents, Friends of the Pandeño Springs, to helpconserve water and create a protected area for the fish.And for the Conchos trout, it worked with local Raramuricommunities to build a cattle exclosure around thehabitat and hire a watchman for the area. “Under thesupervision of WWF, 22 young trout were collected toestablish breeding stock to aid in reintroduction efforts,”adds Mauricio de la Maza, Director of the ChihuahuanDesert programme for WWF-México.

The NGO is also working to give ocean fishermenthe means to be better stewards of the country’s fishingstocks. WWF’s marine programme is collaborating withthe National Fisheries Commission and fishermen’sorganisations to introduce a radically new approach tofisheries; rights-based management. Starting with pilotfisheries in the Gulf of California – home to more thanhalf of Mexico’s fisheries production – WWF aims to makefishermen active shareholders in the future of theirfishery. – Chris Alden


“We have to start treating water like money in a

bank account, and use only what we have”

Monterrey magic

Just next to the US border, Monterrey was once adusty horse wagon station next to a stream of water.So how has one of Mexico’s driest cities succeeded inproviding clean water for its 1.1 million inhabitants?

It’s thanks to thriving brewing and chemicalsindustries which depend heavily on clean water – anda handful of visionary engineers – that 99.6% ofMonterrey’s residents now have access to drinkingwater.

Back in the fifties, local textile and chemicalconglomerate CYDSA built the country’s first waterrecycling plant because it needed large volumes ofthe stuff for its cellophane works. Today, the townreuses 100% of its water – Mexico as a whole treatsonly 40%.

The city also leads the way on renewableenergy, running its light rail system almost entirely onmethane. The gas, extracted from municipal wasteand burned to produce electricity, supplies 82% ofthe Metro’s demand, moves 180,000 people a day,and cuts one million tons of carbon a year. – Hannah Bullock

Work in progress

As one of the ten most biodiverse countries on theplanet, Mexico has been vital to the success of WWF’sglobal mission since it began working there in 1968.Since this first project, WWF has expanded its work tocover freshwater, marine and terrestrial issues acrossthe country, establishing partnerships andstrengthening local and national conservationstrategies.

However, with nearly half of Mexico’s populationstill living in poverty and almost 15% lacking access toclean water and sanitation, social and economicdevelopment is urgently needed by millions ofMexicans. In recognition of this, WWF is working withlocal communities, government agencies, and theprivate sector to forge a new path towardsenvironmental, social and economic sustainability.

[Right] Empty promises: WWF places a giant water bucket infront of HSBC’s energy- and water-efficient offices, to drawattention to the shortcomings of the World Water Forum heldin Mexico in 2006

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Nearly half of Mexico’s original forests havefallen victim to logging and changes inland use since the 1950s. In the tropicalsouth, less than a quarter of the originalrainforest remains. Around 600,000-800,000 hectares are being lost each year,much of it through the expansion ofextensive cattle ranching. But, accordingto the Mexican Government, the climatechange mitigation potential of the nation’s forests is still enormous: around107 million tonnes of carbon in 2010, amainstay of the nation’s climate changestrategy. So maintaining and restoringforest is a key priority for the country.

Forest conservation can be dangerous.Landowners, corrupt local officials andbusiness interests are often ranged againstgrassroots leaders in a very unequal powerbattle, and several forest activists whohave stood up to illegal logging operationshave been murdered in recent years. Butaction to save the forests is building.Conservation groups have sprung up allover the country, many of them withwomen in the driving seat. Take theOrganisation of Women Ecologists of theSierra of Petatlán (OMESP), for example,which was founded in Guerrero State in2001 by Celsa Valdovinos, the wife offorest activist Felipe Arreaga. OMESPpromotes sustainable and organic agriculture, reforestation,recycling, and water and soil conservation – and has plantedmore than 175,000 red cedar trees with help from a nurseryrun by the Mexican army. OMESP members have also foundthere’s a living to be made from reforestation, with someearning $3,000 annually from selling tree seeds.

Some groups now manage substantial assets. Pati RuizCorzo founded the Grupo Ecológico Sierra Gorda (GESG) in1987, and the organisation now manages 383,000 hectares


of the Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve, about 400km north ofMexico City in Querétaro. With jagged mountains, cloudforests and semidesert areas, the reserve contains astonishingbiodiversity including more than its fair share of endangeredanimals such as black bear, jaguar, Humboldt butterfly andmilitary macaw. It’s also home to 93,000 people living in over600 communities. Corzo moved to the area 25 years ago,looking to live closer to nature, but she found that SierraGordo had lost much of its natural vegetation. She set about

Forest destruction has beenthe curse of modern Mexico.But the threat of climate

change could help drive some ambitious reforestation,reports Ben Tuxworth.

Bringing back the trees

Planting hope: over 50 million seedlings have been distributed as part of anational regeneration scheme©

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mending things, bringing back soil fertility, vegetation andwater, and recreating thriving habitats that now attractecotourism and vital employment for local people, whoprovide accommodation and craft goods.

Growing ambitionsIt was largely through Corzo’s efforts that the Governmentdeclared the Sierra Gorda region a protected area in May1997. Corzo remains its most passionate advocate – withGESG now backed by a wide range of local and internationalsponsors, from HP to the Earth Island Institute. Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Dubai in November 2008,Corzo said: “We want to remind you that the vital serviceswhich allow life to go around come from ecosystem services,which come from the land of extremely poor communities.How can we help local people to develop, and enjoywellbeing, as well as be ecosystem service providers? If weunderstand this, we will turn poverty into wealth for ruralcommunities.”

With around 40% of men still leaving the area to findemployment in the US, GESG is now using the forest to raisemoney on the carbon market. Via its commercial operationBosque Sustentable, GESG has been selling carbon offsets inthe voluntary market since 2006, the first sale being to theUnited Nations Foundation. Cash raised from offsetting isused to plant more trees and create sustainable jobs for localpeople. Corzo has commissioned estimates that suggest treesin Sierra Gordo may be worth over a billion dollars as carbon

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sinks, and the hope is that this resource will ultimatelyprovide sufficient income to keep the men from leaving forthe US.

The Government, too, is getting in on the forestprotection act. As part of his administration’s newcommitment to the environment, Mario Molina joinedPresident Calderón to launch the ProÁrbol campaign in 2007,with a plan to plant 250 million trees in ten years, usingindigenous species of pine, cypress, agave, yucca and oak.

Prompted by ProÁrbol, a group of companies includingbakery giant Grupo Bimbo [see below], Santander Serfin, HP,the Wal-Mart Foundation and online retailer Sam’s Club, adivision of Wal-Mart, have established Reforestamos México.This new NGO is building public support and action forreforestation and climate change more generally, withprogrammes on tree planting, forest management,community development and forest culture, and a websitewhere Mexicans can calculate their carbon emissions.

By August 2008, the National Forest Commissionclaimed that 50 million seedlings had been distributedaround the country, and they were aiming to reach their250-million target by the end of the year. And it’s not just inrural areas that trees are coming back. Because Mexico Cityloses around 400 hectares of greenfield land each year todevelopment – mainly through squatting and illegal logging– the campaign has also targeted urban areas. Three milliontrees have been planted in 25 communities over in the city’srural southern zone.

Bakery giant Grupo Bimbo started putting Mexicans’daily bread on the table back in the 1940s. And as farback as the 1980s, it has helped bring trees to thepeople, too. One of the founders of ReforestamosMéxico, Bimbo has been involved in planting an extra4.5 million trees across the country – both in MexicoCity’s green belt and as far afield as the rare butterflyhaven La Reserva de la Bióesfera de la MariposaMonarca [see p9]. The project includes a scheme totrain over 50 indigenous communities, such as theMixteca, Mazahuna, Tepehuano and Tarahumara, insustainable forestry, teaching them the importance offorests for quality of life, and involving them inreplanting.

One of the largest food corporations in theworld, the company is determined to green the way itproduces its range of 5,000-plus baked goods, savourysnacks and confectionery products, as well. Its‘Committed to the Environment’ programme includesstretch targets on energy, water and waste. Smartfactories maximise natural light and are fitted withsolar panels and heat recovery units. Water from theproduction process is treated and reused to washvehicles and water fields. Over a quarter of GrupoBimbo’s 83 plants have been certified as‘environmentally friendly’, with two winning thegovernment’s ‘Excelencia Ambiental’ award.

Last year the company reduced overall waste by37%, and halved non-recyclable waste, compared to

Planting the future with Reforestamos México

2007. It has made a bold move to reduce its ownpackaging waste by introducing degradablepackaging – the first Mexican company to pioneer the‘d2w’ material that breaks down into organic matterwithin three to five years.

“We are very proud of this step that we aretaking in our country,” comments Operations DirectorRamon Rivera. “Normal plastic can take as long as 100to 400 years to break down,” he explains. Startingwith the regular Pan Blanco Bimbo, the company willeventually use the packaging for all its productsacross Latin America. – Hannah Bullock

Green shoots


The Green Plan’s go-it-alone ethos does worry activistslike Gustavo Alanis, Director of an NGO called the MexicanCentre for Environmental Law. His main fear, however, isthat what he calls “a novel and very ambitious plan withexcellent intentions” will fall foul of the yawning gulf thattraditionally exists in Mexico between political rhetoric andpolicy action, and between legislation and enforcement.“The problem is that we have a lot of environmental deficitsthat are extremely difficult and complex to reverse,” saysAlanis, “and we need more than good intentions. We needimplementation.”

Perhaps the most serious ‘deficit’ dates back to theSpanish colonialists’ decision to drain the lakes on which thecity stood, which means that, 500 years on, the DF importsabout a third of the water it uses from outside the valley. Sothe Green Plan’s stated aims of self-sufficiency in water by2022, and restoring the health of the aquifer [see pp18–21],are among the boldest of its targets.

A healthy aquifer should also help slow the dramatic rate at which the capital is sinking as the spongy lakebedcontracts. This reaches 30cm a year in some places. The

“We are starting the transformation of the city to fit acompletely different model.” So says Martha Delgado,waving a copy of the so-called ‘Plan Verde’, which she sayswill make it all happen.

The Plan is a top priority of Mayor Marcelo Ebrard, andDelgado is the Environment Minister in the localadministration. Its geographical scope, if not its ambition, islimited; it refers only to the Federal District. Known as DF,this covers the city’s centre and southern semi-rural fringe,and accounts for about 45% of the 20-million population ofthe Mexico City metropolitan area – but not the remainingareas which spread out into Mexico State and, to a lesserdegree, Hidalgo State.

The consequent difficulties in co-ordinating policy arefurther complicated by the fact that the DF, Mexico Stateand the Federal Government are run by three differentpolitical parties. Nevertheless, a first draft of a metropolis-wide Sustainability Strategy, supported by the UKGovernment through the UK-Mexico SustainableDevelopment Dialogue (SDD), is expected before the end ofthe year.

Green revolution inthe city of palaces

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and reinforced by succeeding generations of city authorities.It does, however, promise to start treating the waste water it dumps on its neighbours, much of which irrigates farmsgrowing food consumed in the capital.

The local authority also has ambitions for reducing airpollution. Two decades ago, ozone and particulate levelsregularly soared to emergency levels. Today, this is a rareoccurrence, although air quality still frequently falls short ofacceptable standards, and the city is filled with wheezingchildren. The gradual improvement is closely tied to aprogramme that forced all cars over ten years old off thestreets for one day a week. The Green Plan extends this toinclude Saturdays. It will also oblige private schools toprovide transport, and promises to retire all old taxis [belowright] and buses from the roads.

Cleaning the chaosBut the crux of the city government’s anti-pollution drive,along with the core of its claims to be active in tacklingclimate change and its efforts to get the city moving again,rests on major new investment in public transport.

This is a big challenge. The existing metro built in the1960s has long been outgrown, leaving a chaotic surfacebus network to compete for space with four million cars –an already unsustainable number which has been growingby 400,000 a year.

consequences go beyond structurally unsafe buildings andcracked pipes in an earthquake-prone city; they also put thewhole drainage system at risk. The reversal of the slope of amajor 19th-century canal, which used to ferry storm run offand sewage out of the city, has put an excessive burden onthe deep drainage system built to complement it in the1960s. Last year experts warned that the danger of amalfunction was real, and that this in turn could leave thecity centre under three meters of dirty water for months.Since then, the central deep drainage canal has received itsfirst round of maintenance for 12 years. Construction of adeeper canal is due to start shortly.

The Green Plan’s claim to change Mexico City’senvironmental paradigm falls short of reversing the wholedrainage model established by the Spanish conquistadors


Think of a list of potentially sustainable cities around theworld. Would you include the Mexican capital? It might notspring to mind as a prime candidate – but the city’s currentadministration claims that soon it will be an automaticchoice, says Jo Tuckman.

“We need more than

good intentions – we

need implementation”

Clockwise from below: Mexico’s Metrobus; Streams of traffic;Capital’s cabs aren’t as green as they look; Rubbish gives wayto recycling

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The Environment Minister insists she can do nothing tostop the explosion in the use of private cars. What the city isdoing, however, is to provide better collective alternatives –and hope that frustration of car drivers at going ever slowerwill persuade Mexico City’s middle classes to overcome theirdeep reluctance to travelling with the hoi polloi.

The first line of a new Metrobus network, introduced in2005 to replace 372 regular buses along a main north-southartery, was hailed as a great success abroad, although withinthe city itself chronic overcrowding puts off many potentialusers. A massive expansion, with a new network of modernbuses with dedicated lanes, is already underway, however[see also p11]. A new metro line is planned, too, and anelectric tram along a central avenue singled out forregeneration, within a project promoted as ‘the zeroemissions corridor’. An important part of the capital’s ownClimate Change Action Plan, released in June 2008, thisproject is one of the initiatives being supported through the SDD.

Most radically for a city that has never seen cycling as an option, the local authority is also preparing a 400kmnetwork of cycle lanes, with the help of consultants frombike-friendly Bogota and Copenhagen. A glimpse of whatcould be is already in evidence in the weekly closure of thecentral Reforma boulevard, which brings out thousands ofcyclists every week for a wheeled equivalent of a traditionalpaseo.

Water, pollution and transportation aside, the DF’s mostimmediate challenge to its dreams of sustainability is the

question of what to do with the 12,000 tonnes of solidwaste it produces every day. Currently this goes to a singleoverstretched dump, whose imminent closure is at the centreof political wrangling. With no sustainable longer-termsolution in place ahead of time, this leaves little choice atfirst than to send the waste to several privately owneddumps in Mexico State – which are also beginning to fill up. But the Green Plan promises to build the first of severalrecycling centres that will harness the energy potential of the waste. At the same time, it is set to launch a majorcampaign promoting rubbish reduction and separation. Until now, Mexico City has relied on pepenadores rootingthrough rubbish to collect recyclable bottles in return forcash. PET plastic is then recycled at the world’s largest plantof its kind, just 40 miles from the capital, which is run by a conglomerate of drinks companies including Coca-Cola.

But there isn’t much of a culture of recycling amongMexico’s middle classes. Precedent does not bode well. Fouryears after legislation was introduced obliging Mexico Cityresidents to separate their organic waste, only about 3% ofhouseholds comply with the law.

Not that such challenges deter Delgado from promising a sustainable future. “The people who live in Mexico Cityhave witnessed the deterioration of the urban environmentand they are now worried about it,” she says. “What wehave to do now, is to move from this new consciousness to action.”

Jo Tuckman is a freelance journalist based in Mexico City.

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Mexico – there’s nowhere like it for a holiday. Goodtransport links by land, air and sea. A world famouscuisine, with more uses for corn than Peru can manage for potatoes. A showcase of the world’s ecosystems. Smallwonder that tourism is one of the country’s top incomegenerators. Mexico is the number one destination fortourists in Latin America. In 2006, tourism provided 14%of the country’s employment, with 21.4 million visitorsgenerating $12.17 billion. And when tourism suffers, sodoes the rest of the economy, as witnessed in the southernstate of Oaxaca, where social protests in 2006 led to a lossof tourism in succeeding years, with disastrousconsequences for local artesanos and other businesses.

Though at times tourism and conservation seemstranded on either side of an unbridgeable divide, they areslowly learning to tread the same path. ‘Ecotourism’ hasbeen an important part of that transition, and for a rangeof operators in Mexico it is increasingly profitable.Environmentalists do take issue with the way the term isoften used to describe any type of nature-based tourism.But there’s no doubt that even these holidays doencourage environmental conservation and localparticipation.

“Ecotourism is not your typical market,” says KennethJohnson, owner of the Ecocolors tour company based inCancún. “It’s not like conventional business where themain concern is profit, profit, profit. Yes, money is one of

Sun, sea…sustainabilityWith holidaymakers increasingly central to Mexico’seconomy, can the industry ever become truly sustainable?Ron Mader and Ben Tuxworth scan the horizon.

the components but it’s not the only focus. You have totake care of the environment people are visiting or you endup screwing your business.”

Of course, nature tourism is not new to Mexico.Individual travellers have long raved about the country’snatural wonders – and in the 1990s they were followed bythe packaged tours. Whether to watch birds or whales,people began visiting the great outdoors to experience thediversity and beauty of nature. Tourism providers discoveredthe accompanying economic benefits of offering naturalhistory tours, and host communities began to see thatecotourism offered the potential to diversify their incomebase.

But the need to protect the natural wonders from thetourists themselves initially gave ecotourism something of a bad name, with conservationists rejecting an unappealingcommoditisation of wildlife, and tour operators dismissingthe more complicated and less marketable eco-trips asnothing more than utopian whimsy.

“One problem is that ‘ecotourism’ is too oftenconfused with adventure tourism – sporting activities in anatural setting which usually offer limited benefits to poorrural communities and pay little attention to conserving thenatural environment,” says architect Hector Ceballos-Lascurain, the man credited with coining the term in the1980s. “Another drawback in Mexico is that many of theecotour operators are addressing the domestic market and

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hardly trying to attract international ecotourists, thusmissing out on the possibility of attracting large amountsof foreign currency – something which is badly needed inour country.”

Until recently, most of Mexico’s protected areas andbiosphere reserves, covering 12% of the country, weresimply off-limits to tourism. The Government tried to keepthese areas free of visitors, due to the lack of qualified parkguides and adequate protection for their fragileecosystems. It didn’t have to try too hard: many of theprotected areas were too far from the main tourismcorridors to attract many visitors anyway. Now, however,it’s changing tack, and starting to open protected areas totourism.

Given the diversity of Mexico’s wildlife and naturalattractions, a broad approach to tourism in the countrymakes sense. Since 2002’s International Year of Ecotourism,development is increasingly financed by variousgovernmental and non-governmental institutions. “Wehave advanced a great deal in the past ten years,” saysJohnson. “We are finally recognising that it’s not just aboutdoing more, but doing things better.”

Recent achievements reflect a slowly but steadilymaturing understanding and engagement. A revitalised

national association for ecotourism and adventure tourismoperators, AMTAVE, is one of the first in the world to bringtogether small businesses to promote their shared offer. In2008 the association launched a promotional campaign,‘México Sagaz’ (meaning ‘Astute Mexico’). And inNovember, Mexico’s Tourism Secretariat announced that itwould double its budget for nature-based travel andecotourism, committing 500 million pesos to the sector andmore than 100 million pesos to national and internationalpromotion.

Baja California is making great efforts to shift itseconomy away from fishing and commerce towardsecotourism. Back in 2000, the state made the news when apresidential decree prevented a major salt plant fromexpanding into breeding areas of the grey whale. Thanks topressure from environmental groups, more than 200 islandsand inlets in the Gulf of California are now under UNESCOprotection, offering great opportunities for diving,snorkelling and kayaking. The Governor made the state’scommitment to ‘environmental tourism’ official a few yearsago, when he ruled that it “must be the main attraction inBaja California”.

Ecotourism is, of course, only a small part of Mexico’stourism market, and plans such as those for Yucatán’scoastal zone have to take into account the current and


Eco in Ochovenado

This community project in Oaxaca is one of Mexico’snewest rural tourism developments. It consists ofcommunities whose inhabitants are keen to sharetheir perspectives and insights with visitors. Locatedon the Pacific coast, the initiative had its origin inconservation efforts and projects which had beenrunning for over a decade – long before anybodyconsidered them as interesting from a tourismperspective.

Among these are forest reserves that serve asrefuge for flora and fauna, organic agricultureusing traditional seeds, and breeding projects foriguana and deer. With the assistance of a localorganisation, Ecosta, the villagers started realisingthat these efforts to conserve some of theirdisappearing species can also be of interest tovisitors. They now offer accommodation, wildlifetours including visits to deer breeding grounds, anda chance to learn about Mixtec culture. – Ron Mader

Two sides of tourism:traditional pleasures[top] are increasinglybeing complementedby social engagement[below]

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potential impacts of ‘conventional’ tourism. The once remoteRiviera Maya in Quintana Roo now hosts colossal numbers ofNorth American and European tourists seeking their fix ofsun, sea and sand. Cruise liners ply back and forth toCozumel island ferrying five million visitors a year, and fromCancún in the north, a strip of hotels and beach resorts linesthe coast past Playa del Carmen, Tulum and on towards theSian Ka’an nature reserve in the south. Here, the classicproblems of bulk tourism pile up, with loss of habitats,unsustainable water use and pollution. Not to mentiondamage to the world’s second largest coral reef, which,extending south to Belize, is an important part of the touristexperience.

Tackling these impacts is the Mesoamerican Reef TourismInitiative (MARTI), a partnership of local NGO Amigos deSian Ka’an, the Coral Reef Alliance (CORAL) andConservation International (CI). MARTI is working on threefronts: CI is taking on the cruise lines; CORAL is re-educating marine recreation operators, and Amigos isrunning environmental management programmes for hotels.

CI has been working with the Cruise Lines InternationalAssociation to map sensitive marine environments and addthem to navigation charts, and developing a range ofawareness-raising activities with passengers and tour

“We are finally recognising that it’s not just about

doing more, but doing things better”

The Xel-Ha ecotourism development mixes touristhedonism with green good practice

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operators. In the pipeline are new voluntary codes ofpractice for the industry and efforts to get cruise lineprocurement to favour responsible tour operators. There willbe shore excursion procurement guidelines, too, and anaccompanying scorecard for cruise lines to verify that theircontractors are meeting good practice standards.

MARTI is also working to reduce the water and energyuse, and solid waste generation, of the 24,000 hotel roomsin the Riviera. Thomas Meller, the MARTI Project Director forAmigos de Sian Ka’an, and his team assess hotels against anexhaustive list of 225 standards, and work with the in-housegreen team on an action plan. By early 2009 they hadregistered some 30 hotels, taking the initiative past the10,000-hotel-room mark on the Riviera Maya and CozumelIsland.

“Almost all MARTI hotels have active Green Teamsimplementing action plans based on our initialenvironmental audit and opportunity analysis,” says Meller.The action plans focus on reducing natural resource use,including water, energy and materials, and improved wastemanagement, plus environmental education. Action rangesfrom the familiar invocation to reuse towels, to wasteseparation, installing water-saving devices and training staffto ensure proper implementation.


Certification is becoming an important part of the hoteloffer. Promoting those that reach green standards is thefocus of a new European campaign run by MARTI, WWFand the Tour Operators’ Initiative (a UN- and WTO-backedgroup of international tour operators, including players suchas TUI Travel PLC and Kuoni Travel, who are committed tothe development of more sustainable tourism).

With so much new development coming on stream,MARTI is lobbying to get sustainability criteria built intolocal and federal legislation, and working with the StateMinistry for Tourism on a guide for the sustainable siting,design and construction of hotels and resorts. WWF is alsodeveloping a national standard on tourism-relatedinfrastructure in collaboration with the NGO Amigos de SianKa’an and the Environment Ministry.

Greening the honey potsMeanwhile, other organisations are trying to address thewide range of tourism impacts in the area. The UKGovernment is working with its Mexican counterpart on ascheme to improve environmental standards in 30 largehotels on the Caribbean coast, as part of the UK-MexicoSustainable Development Dialogue. The Travel Foundationhas recently teamed up with local NGO Biocenocis and theMexican Institute of Anthropology and History to produceprotection guidelines for Tulum, where growing numbers ofvisitors have begun to overwhelm this unique Mayanmonument. And back at Cancún they’re looking at aproject to manage the 34 tonnes of solid waste generatedeach week at the airport by the million or so passengersthat pass through each year. They're getting to grips withgolf, too, working with Hilton and other major resort hotelson best practice on water management, herbicides,pesticides and wildlife conservation.

With the World Economic Forum forecasting Mexico’stourism industry to grow by 5% per year to 2017, the aimmust be to spread these promising initiatives – and manyothers like them – throughout Mexico.


Mexican honey

At Benito Juarez, around 40 minutes from Cancún,Mayan women harvest honey from Melipona, anendangered species of stingless bee. They’ve beendoing this for hundreds of years. What’s much morerecent, though, is the involvement of the TravelFoundation (TF) in their work.

Founded in 2003 by the UK Government andthe outbound tourism industry, TF exists to educatecustomers, develop business tools for change andestablish projects on the ground to improve theimpact of tourism. TUI UK & Ireland encouragescustomer donations to TF at the time of booking,and help planning and implementing projects.Customers of First Choice and Thomson (part of TUIUK & Ireland) have raised over £1 million for thecharity since its launch.

TF has a number of projects in Mexico. Onepriority is to enable Mayan communities to benefitfrom tourism rather than having to leave home insearch of work in the shanties near Cancún. Instead,the project can help preserve their traditional wayof life, and help to protect the natural environment.Which is how the connection with the women ofBenito Juarez came about. The potential for themto maintain a source of income is good, butbringing the product to market requires trainingand resources.

Working with Amigos de Sian Ka’an, TF isproviding bee boxes, researching methods ofharvesting, and selecting the right flowers for thebees. They’re also helping develop health and safetypractices for honey production, and linking up withtourism operators to find a market for both thehoney and the ‘jungle jams’ produced in a similarproject in nearby Chumpon from tropical fruits likepapaya and cactus. Tastings for tourists at the majorresort of Xcaret have proved popular, and TFexpects the first batch of jams and honeys to beavailable for sale in hotels later this year. Theproject is being extended to an additional tencommunities in the area, and TF is exploring apossible ecotourism offer around flower planting.– Ben Tuxworth

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Green Futures brings you the latest news and thinking onpositive progress towards sustainable development in the UKand the rest of the world – both on the web(www.greenfutures.org) and in a quarterly magazine. It is published by Forum for the Future, the sustainabledevelopment charity which finds practical ways private andpublic organisations can deliver a sustainable future.www.forumforthefuture.org.uk

Subscribe to Green Futures Keep up to date with the latest news and debate on how to make the shift to sustainably, in print and online, bysubscribing to Green Futures.

Subscribe at www.greenfutures.org.uk; call our subscriptions team on 01223 564334; or email [email protected]

We’d love your feedback on Viva la vida verde. Pleaseemail our editorial team at: [email protected] To order copies or to download the pdf, visitwww.greenfutures.org.uk/mexico

Viva la vida verde is a Green Futures Special Publication,produced in association with the UK Department forEnvironment, Food and Rural Affairs, TUI Travel PLC, WWF, Grupo Bimbo and Unilever.

Defra: www.defra.gov.ukTUI Travel PLC: www.tuitravelplc.comWWF: www.wwf.org.mx, www.wwf.org.ukGrupo Bimbo: www.grupobimbo.com.mxUnilever: www.unilever.co.uk

Editor in Chief: Martin WrightEditor: Ben TuxworthConsultant Editor: Tiahoga RugeProduction: Hannah Bullock Copy Editor: Roger EastDesign: Jenny Searle Associates

Printed on Revive Silk by The Pureprint Group, using theirenvironmental print technology and vegetable based inks.

© Green Futures 2009Registered charity no. 1040519

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Viva lavida verde - Forum for the Future 05, 2009 · Viva la vida verde.

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