Mexico and US Meet to Discuss Joint Climate Efforts
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) celebrated Mexican Independence Day on September 15th, 2022. Image source: AP Photo/Fernando Llano
Mexico's president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) announced US support for advancing Mexico’s Sonora Plan on Monday. The latest of Mexico’s climate initiatives aims to capitalize on the potential of sustainable energy capacity in the coastal city of Puerto Peñasco, in the state of Sonora.
The statement comes after US Climate Envoy John Kerry’s fifth visit to Mexico, where he and Mexican leaders discussed Mexico’s climate policies ahead of COP27, the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference.
Kerry, thanking AMLO for his hospitality, remarked how “impressed (he) was with the scope of the president’s plan, recognizing that it will benefit us all with respect to climate change.”
Mexico’s new climate initiative will make a strategic investment in Sonora, boasting huge implications for Mexico’s sustainable future. AMLO has expressed a desire to transform Sonora into "the Silicon Valley of clean energy."
The plan's first objectives are to create five new solar plants operated by Mexico's Federal Electricity Commission (CFE); expand hydraulic, wind, and hydroelectric energy capacity; and increase lithium production.
The hope is that building Sonora's energy capacity will generate regional economic prosperity and provide a model for other states to facilitate clean energy production and growth.
The north-eastern state houses the world’s largest lithium deposit in the small town of Bacadéhuachi.
AMLO's emphasis on lithium production is related to Mexico's important automobile industry: the country is the top automaker in Latin America.
LiteoMex, the state-owned company in charge of the essential mineral, has a considerable stake in this initiative and is the relevant agent to oversee its implementation. As part of the Sonora Plan, AMLO hopes to build factories able to transform lithium deposits into batteries.
Mexico is positioning itself to be a key supplier and producer of both raw lithium and lithium batteries. Should the plan be successful, Mexico will become an essential component of global supply chains in the electric car and semiconductor industries.
At a national level, AMLO emphasized the involvement of auto companies like Ford with factories in Mexico. At a regional level, Mexico’s energy policies have been a main factor in the tension between Mexico and US relations, manifesting in a trade dispute that has had negative consequences for US and Canadian firms.
In his previous four visits to Mexico, Kerry's objective was to discuss this conflict while also emphasizing the US and Canada’s focus on North American climate cooperation. The most recent meeting between Kerry and AMLO demonstrated Mexico’s renewed interest in cooperation.
Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard and US Climate Envoy John Kerry bump arms during a US-Mexico meeting in Mexico City on February 9th, 2022. Image source: AP Photo/Fernando Llano
The proposed investments into the Sonoran energy sector could have positive consequences for the US, given its proximity to Mexico and status as the country’s most important trade partner.
Increased clean energy capacity means Mexico will be able to export more energy to the US. Being that climate is one of the main pillars of cooperation between Mexico and the US, the Sonora Plan represents an act of goodwill from Mexico, signaling a retreat from the trade dispute that formerly characterized US-Mexico relations.