Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) to the Paris Agreement: Mexico

The 21st session of the Conference of the Parties (COP21) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was held in Paris in November and December 2015. 195 participating countries negotiated and adopted the Paris Agreement, which includes objectives to peak greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible, to limit the global average temperature increase above pre-industrial levels to well below 2°C, and to pursue efforts to limit the increase to 1.5°C. 

The Paris Agreement, which entered into force on 4 November 2016, requires Parties to put forward their best efforts through “nationally determined contributions” (NDCs). These NDCs represent targets and actions for the post-2020 period. 

Mexico's first NDC includes:

• an unconditional target of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) and short-lived climate pollutant (SLCP) emissions by 25% below business-as-usual in 2030. This implies a net emissions peak starting from 2026, with a reduction of emissions intensity per unit of GDP of around 40% from 2013 to 2030.
• a conditional reduction target of up to 40%, subject to a global agreement addressing important topics including international carbon price, carbon border adjustments, technical cooperation, access to low-cost financial resources and technology transfer, all at a scale commensurate to the challenge of global climate change.
• adaptation components by 2030, with priority areas including: the protection of communities from adverse impacts of climate change, such as extreme hydro-meteorological events related to global changes in temperature; as well as the increment in the resilience of strategic infrastructure and of the ecosystems that host national biodiversity. In order to reach those priorities Mexico will, inter alia, strengthen the adaptive capacity of at least by 50% the number of municipalities in the category of “most vulnerable”, establish early warning systems and risk management at every level of government and reach a rate of 0% deforestation by the year 2030. Some of the adaptation actions presented foster positive synergies with mitigation actions.

 

The NDC covers the following greenhouse gases (GHG): CO2, CH4, N2O, HFCs, PFCs, SF6, and Black Carbon. The sectors covered by the NDC are: Energy, Transport, Industrial processes and product use, Agriculture, LULUCF (Land Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry) and Waste.

For the oil and gas sector (one of the sectors included), it mentions the implementation of the methane regulation, as well as more efficient processes during refining and processing, as part of their mitigation actions.

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