Joint Statement of the United States and Mexico Resulting From the Third Meeting of the Bilateral Climate Change Working Group

The governments of Mexico and the United States convened the third meeting of the Bilateral Working Group on Climate Change in Mexico City on August 24, 2006 . The meeting was conducted pursuant to a commitment by both governments to expand and intensify their existing bilateral efforts to address climate change as well as to ensure continued close cooperation on climate change.

Maria Teresa Bandala Medina, Director General on International Affairs for SEMARNAT, led the Mexican delegation to the Bilateral Working Group meeting. The U.S. delegation was led by Trigg Talley, Director of the Office of Global Change at the U.S. Department of State. The Mexican delegation included representatives from the Ministries of, Agriculture, Cattle, Rural Development, Fisheries and Food; Energy; Environment and Natural Resources; and Foreign Affairs, as well as the National Institute of Ecology , the National Meteorological Service, the National Commission of Forests, Petróleos Mexicanos and the National Autonomous University of Mexico . The U.S. team included experts from the U.S. Departments of Commerce (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), Energy, and State, as well as the U.S. Agency for International Development, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the National Science Foundation.

The Parties discussed and considered a wide variety of areas of cooperation, including the following:

• Emission inventories,
• Climatic models,
• Adaptation,
• Land use change and forestry,
• Carbon sequestration,
• Co-benefits,
• Cleaner energy production (renewable sources of energy and energy efficiency), and,
• Carbon cycles.

The two countries also discussed their overall climate policies and discussed the progress reached in the framework of the Methane to Markets Initiative, of which both countries are founding members.

José Ramón Ardavín Ituarte, Undersecretary on Promotion and Environmental Regulation at SEMARNAT, and Trigg Talley led the closing session of the Working Group, where they reviewed ongoing cooperative activities and considered a range of new and expanded activities, including:

• Continued cooperation on the Methane to Markets Partnership (M2M), and the GHG Program;
• Work related to large and small scale renewable energy sources;
• Improving energy efficiency;
• Technical assistance for the periodic updating of greenhouse gas inventories and development of climatic models to support decision-making;
• Continued cooperation in the development of integrated carbon cycle research, and coordination through the North American Carbon Program;
• Working towards increased cooperation on climatic monitoring, modeling and prediction; and
• Identify ways to collaborate on the important issues of vulnerability and adaptation.

Mexican and U.S. delegates reaffirmed their commitment to cooperate closely in addressing climate change. The United States will host the next meeting of the Working Group in 2007.