Mexico Border States Climate Change Program
The Center for Climate Strategies has provided assistance to each of the six US-Mexico Border States with comprehensive climate change action planning. Since 2008, CCS has operated in partnership with the Border Environment Cooperation Commission (BECC) and each of the states (Baja California, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, Sonora, and Tamaulipas) in cooperation with the Mexico Institute for National Ecology and Climate Change (INECC) and the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
This initiative began with a cross-border agreement between the governors of Arizona and Sonora. This was an outgrowth of the Arizona Climate Action Plan that began in 2004 under Executive Order by Governor Janet Napolitano. CCS provided process design, facilitative and technical assistance for the development of the Arizona Climate Action Plan. This approach was quickly replicated through governors agreements by other Mexico Border States and coalesced into a regional framework, and public private partnership with CCS, the BECC, and federal agencies in the US and Mexico.
The Mexico Border States Climate Change Program includes the development by CCS of greenhouse gas emissions inventories and forecasts (all sources and sinks) in each of the states through a regionally consistent methodology that is applied on a custom basis to each jurisdiction. In addition, CCS and BECC have supported climate mitigation planning with each of the states, including completion of Phase 1 planning in Baja California, Sonora, and Coahuila, and Phase 1 work in progress in Tamaulipas and Chihuahua.
CCCAG Members Consider Options in Sonora
In 2013 CCS and BECC launched Phase 2 of climate action planning in Baja California and Coahuila. This work is being conducted under the Mexico Low Emission Development System (MLEDS) program and is now covered under Mexico's ground-breaking General Law on Climate Change. It will be completed at the end of 2013 in partnership with the World Wildlife Fund Mexico through formal collaboration with climate change action stakeholder and agency committees in each of hte states. Phase 2 will include design of mitigation policy recommendations, micro and macroeconomic impacts, and evaluation of energy, resources, and GHG emissions analysis of specific climate mitigation actions and mechanisms in each of the sectors.
Like other integrative processes at the subnational and national levels (such as comprehensive climate action planning, green growth strategies, low carbon development, and energy, environment and economic (E3) security initiatives) the MLEDS program is a comprehensive, multi-objective, fact based, collaborative process designed t advance critically important goals, objectives, policies, and programs for local, regional and national implementation.
