Have Mexico’s environmental policies weakened under the Morena party?

Mexico’s environmental policy rating declined from “medium” to “highly insufficient” between 2012 and 2022 by the Climate Action Tracker, a project that measures government climate action.

The CAT’s latest report cites the country’s renewed prioritization of fossil fuel use and dismantling of climate-related policies and institutions in their assessment.

Mexico established the General Law on Climate Change which expanded the National Institute of Ecology and created a General Climate Change Fund. The Mexican government eliminated the fund and institute in 2020 (the law remains).

Mexican politician Andrés Manuel López Obrador created the National Regeneration Movement, known as the Morena party, in 2011. It became the country’s majority party in 2018, when he was elected president.

On June 2, 2024, Mexico elected Claudia Sheinbaum, an environmental scientist, as president under the Morena party. Sheinbaum suggested she would increase oil production by state-owned companies, according to The Associated Press