Name of the Committee: ECOSOC Agenda: Climate Change and Sustainable Development Name of the country: Mexico Mexico

is proud to a member of the Economic and Social Council and takes the responsibility of addressing the issues brought before this council. Tackling climate change and developing in a sustainable manner are the top priorities for Mexico. Climate change is currently a recurrent topic which not only concerns Mexico but all the countries of the whole world. But let us first understand what climate change exactly is and how does it concern us. Climate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions, or in the distribution of weather around the average conditions (i.e., more or fewer extreme weather events). All over the world the result of climate change can be observed in the form of flooding, storms and the rise of the sea level. Mexico having different climate zones in the north and the south is facing different kinds of problems. On the one hand Mexico is scourged by drought but on the other hand part of the land is scourged by flooding and by hurricanes. Apart from these disasters caused Mexico is also suffering from fall of the wood stock. The IPCC 4th Assessment Report has found that rising climates are also affecting the State of Mexico in the following manner:

Replacement of tropical forest by savannas is expected in the tropical forests of central and southern Mexico, along with replacement of semi-arid by arid vegetation in most of central and northern Mexico. 2-18% of the mammals, 2-8% of the birds and 1-11% of the butterflies are committed to extinction. Coastal vegetated wetlands are sensitive to climate change and long-term sea-level change. Also Environmental change will continue to have negative effects on poorer and, in particular, on indigenous groups, who depend on sources of income threatened by the effects of climate change.

But the solutions to these problems that can strike Mexico any time are also being thought of by the Mexican Government. These include enforcement of the Climate Law by the Government and execution of Goal 7 of the Millennium Goals undertaken by the Mexican Government. Mexico's climate law, one of Calderon's legacies, aims to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent from business-as-usual levels by 2020 and by 50 percent by 2050.It also calls for a major increase of the use of renewable sources to generate up to 35 percent of all electricity in the country and requires mandatory emissions reporting by all the major economic sectors. Goal 7 of the Millennium Goals seeks to guarantee a clean environment and the rational use of environmental resources to the benefit of Mexicos future. There have been substantial overall improvements: Protected Natural Areas (PNAs) have increased in size, there has been a reduction in the consumption of ozone depleting substances (ODS), economic growth has

become more efficient and sustainable (the growth of GDP per capita has not led to a substantial increase in greenhouse gas emissions), and the drinking water supply and coverage of wastewater treatment plants have improved. Also the Government is improving the urban mass transport systems (Although mass transport of Mexico is one of the finest in the world), which have positive implications for public health, the environment and efficiency overall, as well as the promotion of sustainable natural resource management, which would allow for resilient, inclusive growth. For short- to medium-life assets such as appliances and lighting, the focus is on switching to more efficient devices such as appliances with low standby power consumption, and CFLs and LEDs rather than incandescent lighting. The Government has also fixed certain standards for various appliances like refrigerators etc. WWF calls on the G20 leaders to commit to end environmentally harmful fossil fuel subsidies and redirect these funds towards renewable, sustainable solutions. Because of the high number of sunny days in Mexico the sun is a perfect resource. That is why solar equipment was installed on the roof of some houses in Mexico City. At the moment the Government is working on the "Plan Verde" whose aim it is to get a better environment in Mexico City and make it more habitable again until 2015.

Now lets come to the second part of the committees debate i.e. Sustainable Development. Sustainable development refers to a mode of human development in which resource use aims to meet human needs while ensuring the sustainability of natural systems and the environment, so that these needs can be met not only in the present, but also for generations to come. Sustainable Development is one of the main methods to control climate change and preserve a better tomorrow and all the steps taken by the Government are indeed lending a hand in Sustainable Development of the country. These steps help in preserving Oil resources of the country and using renewable resources for the development of the country. Also in the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development it was said that Mexico holds the keys to breaking the current political deadlock in the world and the fate of sustainable development vision along with Brazil. Cooperation and commitment is the only way these can be addressed. The State of Mexico hopes that these issues are taken into consideration during the committee meeting and also Mexico will continue to work according to the resolution passed during the Committee. On the ending note, Mexico continues to call for environmental-development discussions that are well crafted for the betterment of the world as a whole.