Claudia Sheinbaum’s Cabinet: These will be the challenges of Alicia Bárcena at the head of Semarnat

Civil organizations and specialists saw the appointment of Chancellor Alicia Bárcena as head of the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (Semarnat) as a wise decision.in the next government.

“Greenpeace Mexico welcomes the appointment of Alicia Bárcena Ibarra as the next head of the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources. “We value and recognize his career in supporting environmental causes, especially for his efforts to achieve the adoption of the Escazú Agreement, a treaty that strengthens democracy, human rights and the protection of the environment in Latin America,” the organization said Thursday. International NGO based in Holland.

When consulted about this, they highlight that Bárcena’s appointment was correct, given her extensive experience in that matter, although they point out that One of its greatest challenges will be to achieve a larger budget for Semarnat and preponderance over institutions, such as the Ministry of Energy, Petróleos Mexicanos and the Federal Electricity Commission.

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“I think that is the main challenge and it can be summarized in the weight that it will really have budgetarily in terms of public policy decisions. Otherwise, it will end up being what the President says: in a vase,” says José Antonio Salazar Andreu, an academic at the School of Government and Economics at the Universidad Panamericana.

The university academic highlights that throughout this six-year period, Semarnat faced budgetary ups and downs that limited it in facing the problems in this matter. such as climate change and the water crisis.

Gustavo Alanís, general director of the Mexican Center for Environmental Law (Cemda), He says he is convinced that Alicia Bárcena will do a good job at the head of Semarnat, because it has a track record and experience in the environment.

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“She has the credentials because she is not an upstart on the subject. She is not someone who suddenly came in and said, ‘I’m going to be the secretary.’ But he has already come a long way and has done so in the official sector at a national and international level. We also found it positive that it was one of the first appointments. Because that sent a signal that the environment will be a priority for the next government,” he highlights.

He comments that the still head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was one of the main promoters of the Escazú Agreement, which came into force three years ago in Mexico and seeks to promote and protect human rights, equality and non-discrimination in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Alanís affirms that with Bárcena there will be dialogue with the different sectors of society: “We can think that there will be dialogue and rapprochement and that is favorable for everyone to join together and work for the effective implementation of the law and an environmental policy.”

Challenges

• Achieve a larger budget for the full care and conservation of Mexico’s natural heritage.
• Comply with Cop 28 to replace fossil fuels with clean energy.
• Improve air quality in several regions.
• Face the water crisis that affects the country.
• Comply with the 2015 Paris Agreement, in order to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases.

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M.V.