Mexico is looking to attract financing from Canada and the United States to help it meet greenhouse gas reduction targets.
Leaders from the three North American nations meet in Ottawa next week to discuss climate change.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, U.S. President Barack Obama and Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto will huddle Wednesday to talk about security, trade — and climate change.
Given Britain’s recent Brexit vote, and Donald Trump’s populist ascent, the three leaders will be keen to work together while they can.
“We are looking to align ourselves – the three partners in NAFTA – as closely as possible [on key issues] to demonstrate that in North America, we understand how creating growth that benefits our citizens and protecting the environment for future generations are not opposite goals but are very much complementary in the 21st century,” Trudeau said.
Negotiators have been working on an agreement that would include efforts to harmonize environmental regulation among the three nations.
At December’s United Nations summit in Paris, Mexico committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent, subject to getting access to low-cost financing.
Mexico is looking for foreign partners to help finance a renewable energy boom, the adoption of clean-energy technology and the reforestation of its tropical rain forests. Several Mexican states have signaled their interest in joining the Western Climate Initiative, the California-Quebec carbon market.
Canada and the U.S. are pushing Mexico to join their commitment to reduce methane emissions by 40 to 45 percent by 2030. A source close to the negotiations says there has been “major push back” from Mexico, which wants some assurances of assistance from its northern neighbors, reported the Globe and Mail.
The climate change impact of methane is 25 times greater than that of carbon dioxide. It is emitted by the oil and gas sector as well as landfills and farm animal waste and North America accounts for more than 20 percent of all oil-and-gas methane emissions.
