THIRD MEETING OF THE MEXICO-UNITED STATES BILATERAL FRAMEWORK ON CLEAN ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

• The meeting was held in Washington, D.C., with the Mexican delegation headed by Energy Minister Jordy Herrera and Mexico’s ambassador in the United States, Arturo Sarukhan.

• At the meeting, the progress made by the various programs was reviewed and bilateral cooperation on energy and climate change was given impetus, with special emphasis on low-carbon development, renewable energy and technological development.

The Foreign Ministry reports that the third Mexico-United States bilateral meeting on clean energy and climate change took place in Washington, D.C. today and was attended by officials from each country. The Mexican delegation was headed by Energy Minister Jordy Herrera and Mexican Ambassador to the United States, Arturo Sarukhan.
Through this bilateral initiative, the governments of Mexico and the United States have strengthened their cooperation on renewable energy, clean technologies and the fight against climate change. Their common goal is to ensure sustainable development, a secure energy supply and energy efficiency, and to progress in strengthening institutional mechanisms that successfully address the complex and diverse challenges in North America.

At the meeting, implementation of the relevant bilateral projects and initiatives was reviewed. The participants agreed on the value of the dialogue and the actions taken to date, and they identified areas of opportunity that could be addressed in the future.
The critical importance of energy for the economic development of countries and the welfare of their societies was stressed, and the two sides reiterated their commitment to reducing as much as possible the environmental impact of the production and consumption of energy. The governments agreed to continue working to consolidate the efforts of the Mexico-United States Coordinating Committee of the Operational Group for Cross-border Electricity.

The delegations discussed climate change in the current international context, and agreed on the importance of ensuring the full implementation of the agreements reached at the Cancun and Durban conferences. They also stressed the need to promote joint efforts to tackle climate change with transparency and trust, and they reviewed the work that has been done on the Green Climate Fund.

They also acknowledged that bilateral cooperation can make significant contributions to other regional and multilateral mechanisms. An example of this is the priority given by the Mexican Presidency of the G-20 to the issue of long-term financing for climate change programs.

The Mexican delegation included senior officials from the Ministries of Foreign Affairs (SRE); Energy (SENER); Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT); and Communications and Transportation (SCT); the Federal Commission of Electricity (CFE); the National Commission for Energy Efficiency (CONUEE); the Institute of Electrical Research (IIE) and the National Ecology Institute (INE).

The United States was represented by senior officials from the Departments of State (DOS); Energy (DOE); Interior (DOI); and Commerce (DOC); and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); International Development (USAID) and the Eximbank.
The bilateral mechanism was established in 2009 by Presidents Felipe Calderón and Barack Obama to strengthen the bilateral dialogue and cooperation on clean energy and climate change. The two previous meetings were held in January 2010 in Washington, DC and in Mexico City in May 2011.