2023-11-14 17:48:02
MEXICO CITY (AP) — The government of Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has rushed to create more protected natural areas as his term ends, but environmentalists accuse him of trying to “greenwash” his image as a supporter of the oil in the era of climate change.
Environmentalists say the government spent the first five years of its six-year term building a massive new oil refinery, shoring up the state oil company and passing laws once morest renewable energy producers.
The government boasts of adding dozens of protected areas, while cutting funding to the environmental protection department and the money available for the protection of those areas, activists say.
The budget approved by Congress for 2024 reduces funds for the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (Semarnat) by 9,000 million pesos (510 million dollars), that is, 11%. It is the most recent cut approved by the López Obrador government, which in total, including the new budget, has reduced the funds allocated to environmental protection by its predecessor by 35%.
The day following the budget was approved, Semarnat chaired an international conference in Cancún to celebrate its creation of more protected areas than any other in Mexican history.
In its first five years, the government created one protected area per year. In the last three months he created 16, projected another 12 and said he plans another 10 before the end of the six-year term.
Environmental activists said the budget exposes a government whose environmental credentials are mere showboating.
“This government wants to say it cares regarding the environment by creating new protected natural areas on paper,” said Gina Chacón, a researcher who convened experts to study the budget with the climate NGO coalition Northeast Civil Society for Environmental Sustainability.
“We don’t want to protect the environment on paper. We must protect the environment with real measures, and measures require money,” she said.
Mexico has a National Commission of Protected Natural Areas (CONANP) with its own budget. This has suffered numerous cuts since 2016, particularly during the first year of López Obrador’s government.
Protected areas have several designations, each with their own restrictions. Only research can be carried out in biosphere reserves, while national parks allow tourism and protected flora and fauna areas allow the extraction of certain resources.
Next year, CONANP’s budget will increase slightly to compensate for inflation, but the breakdown shows that the increase will be exclusively for salaries, while funds for area protection will be the same. CONANT drastically exceeds its budget year following year, which forces it to ask Semarnat for resources.
1699984149
#Activists #Mexico #budget #protected #natural #areas #insufficient
