The U.S. and Mexico formed a new alliance on climate change Friday after the Central American nation became one of the first countries to commit to emissions reductions ahead of a major United Nations conference in Paris later this year.
Mexico said it would cap its carbon dioxide emissions by 2026, reducing its emissions 22 percent by 2030. Many scientists say carbon emissions are warming the Earth’s climate, causing more severe storms, droughts and other severe weather changes.
Mexico’s strategy was submitted to the United Nations Friday ahead of the December climate change conference. The conference will be used to hash out a major global deal to limit global warming, with commitments from developing and developed countries alike.
Mexico’s lead is significant because emerging economies have been resistant to making firm emissions cuts and instead have argued that larger, more developed countries such as the United States should be responsible for the majority of reductions.
The White House stepped out almost immediately to support the Mexican government in its decision. In a joint statement, President Obama and his Mexican counterpart, Enrique Pena Nieto, called global warming one of the “greatest threats facing humanity.”
Obama announced the creation of a new joint task force to help Mexico face down the threat, leveraging U.S. know-how on clean energy development, electric grid efficiency and other technology and policy-sharing to work toward emissions reductions together.
“The two countries will seize every opportunity to harmonize their efforts and policies towards their common climate goals,” the joint statement read.
The new high-level bilateral “clean energy and climate policy task force” will help deepen “policy and regulatory coordination in specific areas including clean electricity, grid modernization, appliance standards, and energy efficiency, as well as promoting more fuel-efficient vehicles.”
The Obama administration received flack for its climate deal with China last year from Republicans, who said that the U.S. would have to make major cuts while China would have to do nothing. The deal was part of a White House strategy to secure commitments with other countries ahead of the UN conference. But to strengthen the U.S.’s own commitment, Obama is pursuing a set of aggressive regulations with the Environmental Protection Agency to limit emissions for existing power plants.
The emission rules have stoked the ire of Republicans and some Democrats who say the rules are a “power grab” by the EPA that will erode state rights and could destabilize the power grid. The rules will be made final sometime this summer.
