Calderón Plants Seeds at G-8 Summit

June 12, 2007
Mexico City

President Felipe Calderón is staking his claim as an eco-friendly president at a global level. At last week's G-8 Leaders' Summit in Brussels, Calderón chose to speak to the assembly on global warming and presented Mexico's own blueprint for sustainable development, according to international news sources and Calderón's press office.

His plan for reducing carbon emissions, Mexico's first, was rolled out just last month. The plan has earned him kudos abroad from groups like the United Nations and the World Monetary Fund. 

Developing nations like Mexico have traditionally been exempt from accords to curb carbon emissions-making Mexico's voluntary plan a rarity.

So far, Calderón's government has avoided tackling any of the big polluters like Pemex, the nationalized oil company that provides the bulk of Mexico's revenue.

But Mexico has committed to planting 250 million trees this year, as we reported in our June 1 Mexico First Alert. The reforestation plan, called ProArbol (pro-tree), is part of the UN's goal to plant a billion trees this year. Mexico aims to fulfill a quarter of the UN goal. To do so, it has earmarked about $400 million USD to compensate farmers and others to plant and care for the trees.

So far ProArbol looks to be a success. Applications for financing to plant trees is running ahead of projections. If nothing else, Mexico is likely to be 250 million trees greener by the end of this year.

Best Regards,

Suzan Haskins
Editor, Mexico Insider
International Living

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