Today's Edition
Taha Haseeb (ABU DHABI) - From hosting the 16th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP16) in Cancun in 2010, Mexico has played an important role in stimulating international cooperation efforts to combat climate change.
Mexico’s role in facilitating climate finance and investments for developing countries has become clear through its efforts with the Green Climate Fund, and its role in suggesting the first global analysis of progress towards combatting climate change, which will be issued during COP28, to be hosted by the UAE from November 30 to December 12, 2023.
In an interview with Aletihad, Luis Alfonso de Alba, Mexico’s ambassador to the UAE, presented his vision for COP28, and stressed the conference’s importance in stimulating climate action at the global level.
COP28 is a critically important event, not only for the large number of countries, officials and high-level participants, but also because it is the “first opportunity humanity has to evaluate pledges and commitments since the launch of the Paris Agreement”.
The conference is also an opportunity to recall the importance of efforts to limit the global temperature increase to 1.5°C, which is essential for preserving the livelihoods of people around the world. COP28 is equally important as “an opportunity to make a significant contribution to addressing financing problems and technology transfer challenges” de Alba said.
“Certainly all of these are things we hope will be activated by increasing and facilitating access to financial resources,” he added. The Mexican Ambassador noted that his country is a pioneer in climate negotiations, adding that therefore Mexico intends to play a constructive role at COP28.
“We hosted the COP16 in 2010, and since then, Mexico has developed a methodology called climate diplomacy that is widely recognised and allows us to rebuild quickly and implement some of the provisions of the agreement that was envisioned at COP16. In addition, climate diplomacy includes a number of Mexican proposals, such as creating the Green Climate Fund at COP21 in Paris. There, Mexico proposed an evaluation of the pledges made in accordance with the contents of the Paris Climate Agreement,” de Alba said.
An ambitious agenda
The Ambassador also emphasised Mexico’s particular interest in addressing the concerns of developing countries and the countries most vulnerable to climate change. He explained that Mexico is one of the countries suffering the most from pollution due to its size and economy, particularly considering the population density, which increases every day. ‘
’Mexico also has coastlines on both the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans, meaning it is significantly vulnerable to climate change, especially when hurricanes occur,” he said.
Mexico understands its responsibility towards others, and will certainly continue to develop its ambitious national agenda, de Alba said. “It is a mechanism that we use in climate change agreements, but we will also continue to involve all actors.”
Environmental approach
“We determined from the start that climate change is not an environmental problem, but rather a problem that affects the development of the country as a whole. For this reason, it cannot be left only to an environmental approach, but must involve the executive body along with various ministries, the private sector, academia, and legislative entities,” de Alba said.
The Mexican Ambassador added that at all levels of society need to be part of this solution, which necessitates a comprehensive process that involves the commitment of all actors. “This is the only way we will reach solutions,” he said.
