Mexico City Welcomes the World:
From November 16th through the 20th, Mexico City will once again be in the international spotlight in the discussions about Climate Change. This year, they are hosting the third World Congress on United Cities and Local Governments – the Local and Regional Leaders World Summit. This conference will discuss how local leaders, by starting on a small scale, can make big differences in the lives of their residents. One important theme will be how mayors and other local leaders are leading the way in making cities more environmentally friendly. This conference will showcase innovative practices for dealing with climate change at the city level. Some of the best ideas in the last years for greening our cities have come out of meetings like these. This conference will also serve as a warm-up for the United Nations Climate Change Conference which will take place later in the month in Cancun. The United States is pleased to be taking part in both meetings and continuing our commitment to reducing our environmental footprint.
The US and Mexico Leverage Resources to Fight the Impact
of the Gulf Oil Spill
:
The Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT) is working closely with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), the National Park Service (NPS), and the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in the event that spillage from the Gulf of Mexico Oil Disaster washes up on coasts later in the year. A plan was presented to the Mexican Congress on June 16 to address the current and potential impacts of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill upon Mexican territory. Scientists are concerned that oil may drift into Mexican national waters in the fall, when the hurricane season and other natural forces can alter sea currents. SEMARNAT will undertake measures to lessen the impact on Mexico’s ecosystems and biodiversity, including the purchase of protective equipment and physical barriers. SEMARNAT began monitoring Mexican waters a month ago, but needs to extend its activities deeper and further offshore to adequately track and predict sea currents. The U.S. has offered to help coordinate technical assistance and logistical support. As part of these efforts, Mexican experts will visit the U.S. and review state and local contingency plans to protect wildlife along the Gulf coast. Of most concern is that the fisheries, tourism, and marine wildlife on the coasts of Tamaulipas, Veracruz, Tabasco, and Campeche would be severely harmed. Mexico has stressed that damages caused by the spill should be assessed jointly by the U.S. and Mexico to ultimately recuperate the monetary losses attributable to this environmental catastrophe.
U.S. EMBASSY HOSTS NORTHCOM, HHS, AND CDC AT PANDEMIC INFLUENZA WORKING GROUP - May 19, 2009: Approximately one year ago, the emergence of the H1N1 pandemic influenza changed the landscape of North American public health cooperation, response and prevention. To mark the one-year anniversary of this important event, the ESTH Section invited a team of presenters to visit Mexico City from the headquarters of the three major organizations responsible for U.S. public health emergency prevention and response: the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and the United States Northern Command (NORTHCOM). The working group took place at the Mexican Ministry of Health’s epidemiology department, and was attended by approximately 45 epidemiologists, diplomats, researchers, and human and animal health specialists. Dr. Hugo Lopez-Gatell Ramirez, the Director General of Epidemiology at the Secretariat of Health, welcomed Dr Steve Waterman of the CDC, Raul Sotomayor of HHS, and Colonel Lane Wall of NORTHCOM. The speakers discussed their agencies’ roles in the April 2009 influenza outbreak, their successful collaboration with the Mexican public health authorities, and the ongoing binational cooperation on infectious disease and other public health issues.
Dr. Diana Farkas, Professor of Materials Science and engineering at Virginia Tech, visited Mexico City during the last week of April as part of the Jefferson Science Fellows program. Dr. Farkas was invited by the Chemistry Department of UNAM to deliver a talk entitled Innovation, Discovery, Patenting, and the Role of Universities. Jefferson Science Fellows are tenured academic scientists and engineers from U.S. institutions of higher learning who spend one year at the U.S. Department of State or the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) for an on-site assignment in Washington, D.C. Following the fellowship year, Jefferson Science Fellows return to their academic careers, but will remain available to the U.S. Department of State/USAID for short-term projects over the following five years. Dr. Diana Farkas completed her doctorate in Applied Science in Metallurgy at the University of Delaware in 1980, and did her postdoctoral work at the Max Planck Institut fur Eisenforschung in Düsseldorf, Germany. She also holds an MS degree in Economics from Virginia Tech. She has published over 190 papers or book chapters to date. She is a fellow of the American Society for Metals. She has been a Fulbright scholar and has held visiting positions in several Latin American countries as well as in Europe and the US, including Brown University, MIT and Livermore National Laboratory. Dr. Farkas’ main research interests lie in the structure of defects in alloys and the relationship of these structural characteristics with materials behavior. She focuses on modeling techniques for the study of material properties using large-scale massively parallel computer simulation. Atomic scale models for mechanical behavior of nano-structured materials is one of her main research interests in recent years.
Ambassador Carlos Pascual delivered a speech about climate change opportunities and challenges in North America on April 28 at the Technológico de Monterrey’s Mexico City campus. The Ambassador described the impacts of climate change on Earth, including regional increases and decreases in precipitation levels, and the potential threat of allergenic pollen, infectious disease vectors, and heat-related mortality. He outlined the different perspectives and approaches that inform the climate change debate, including small island states’ concern for survival, the US desire to foster the economy while protecting the environment, and developing countries’ attempts to reconcile growth with climate change. The speech was part of the university’s Expo Negocios Verdes, which demonstrated a variety of green business initiatives, offered an opportunity to expand green markets, and featured the sale of sustainable products and services. For more information:http://www.ccm.itesm.mx/talentotec2/n050510.html
On April 27, the National Academy of Sciences announced the election of 72 new members and 18 foreign associates in recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research. Election to the Academy is considered one of the highest honors that can be accorded a U.S. scientist or engineer. Those elected today bring the total number of active members to 2,097. Among them is professor and senior researcher Larissa Lomnitz from UNAM’s Institute of Mathematics and Applied Systems. The National Academy of Sciences is a private organization of scientists and engineers dedicated to the furtherance of science and its use for the general welfare. It was established in 1863 by a congressional act of incorporation signed by Abraham Lincoln that calls on the Academy to act as an official adviser to the federal government, upon request, in any matter of science or technology. For more information: http://www8.nationalacademies.org/onpinews/newsitem.aspx?RecordID=04272010
Secretary of Health Jose Angel Cordova attended the Seventh International Ministerial Conference on Animal and Pandemic Influenza (IMCAPI)in Hanoi, Vietnam from April 19-21. Secretary Cordova joined senior officials from foreign policy, health, agriculture and development ministries from approximately 80 countries to focus on how the international community can learn from past and ongoing experience with avian influenza and pandemic H1N1 influenza, coordinate efforts to prepare for a severe influenza pandemic, and strengthen animal and human health systems on a long term basis. Secretary Cordova noted that Mexico maintains a high level of epidemiological vigilance over H1N1 influenza and monitors potential bird flu threats, including commercial poultry farming. He praised the country’s farm health inspection program and the national health service (SENASICA) for their efforts to monitor and combat bird flu. For more information: http://www.imcapi-hanoi-2010.org/
Mexico’s Secretary of the Environment and Natural Resources Juan Angel Elvira Quesada attended the Major Economies Forum on April 18-19 in Washington, DC. President Barack Obama announced the launch of the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate on March 28, 2009. The Forum is intended to facilitate a candid dialogue among major developed and developing economies, help generate the political leadership necessary to achieve a successful outcome at the November UN climate change conference in Cancun, and advance the exploration of concrete initiatives and joint ventures that increase the supply of clean energy while cutting greenhouse gas emissions. During the forum, Secretary Elvira commented on his country’s strong and ongoing ties with the US on climate change issues as evidenced by recent bilateral meetings with the US Special Envoy for Climate Change Todd Stern, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, and Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar. For more information: http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2010/04/139891.htm
Help us celebrate the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day! Forty years ago, Earth Day began in the United States as a “teach-in” – a day to educate people about the environmental challenges facing our planet. Today, we know more than ever about the challenges of preserving our environment – from clean water to climate change – and Earth Day has evolved into a call for sustainable solutions and local action all over the world.
The Obama administration has taken concrete steps toward achieving these goals. Under the President’s leadership, the United States has reengaged in international climate negotiations and we are more aggressively working to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions. And at the State Department, we are elevating environmental issues in our diplomatic relationships and forging new partnerships to better engage on those global challenges.
Video:.http://www.state.gov/video/?videoid=78531249001. (Full statement)
U.S. Embassy Mexico will commemorate the 40th anniversary of Earth Day on April 22 with a full roster of events both inside and outside the Embassy. The Earth Day celebrations are part of mission Mexico’s wider Going Green Initiative, which focuses on raising both awareness and conservation within the Embassy community. The Embassy’s Green Team has established U.S. Embassy Mexico as a leader in intra-Embassy environmental efforts in the region, seeking to involve all Mission elements and agencies in advancing the Secretary’s Greening Diplomacy Initiative. The Embassy’s Green Team has organized several Earth Day events with the goal of making employees aware of green projects and resources within Mexico City, and to educate children on the importance of environmental stewardship.
Last Friday, the Embassy hung a large banner across the Reforma side of the building featuring the iconic Earth Day image of the Earth as viewed from space. On Earth Day, officials will kick off a low-water-usage landscaping project that will rehabilitate the green space in front of the Embassy. Inside the Embassy, employees and their families will enjoy a Green Bazaar (featuring eco-friendly businesses and their products), green activities for kids, and educational displays on green projects across the city, including Ecobici Program and the vertical garden initiative. Next week, the Embassy will host 100 GLOBE program science students (www.globe.gov/) at the Natural History Museum’s Climate Change Observatory for a multi-media presentation on the perils of climate change. Funded by the Climate Change Institute, the recently-inaugurated Climate Change Observatory uses technology from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to track and project global weather patterns.
Earth Day 2010 comes at a time when environmental issues are of particular importance to Mexico. Among citizens of this biologically mega-diverse nation, awareness of conservation issues is high. President Calderon has put green energy and other environmental issues among his top priorities, and Mexico is slated to host the Conference of Parties (COP) 16 in November. During her recent visit to Mexico City, First Lady Michelle Obama expressed her admiration for the Embassy’s efforts to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Earth Day. For more information: www.state.gov
On Saturday April 17, in celebration of Earth Day, the U.S. Consulate Monterrey joined forces with La Huasteca park officials to sponsor a cleanup of a large area of La Huasteca park. Approximately 100 volunteers from the Consulate and local community volunteered to spend their morning picking up trash in a effort to beautify neglected areas of the park. Volunteers filled an entire garbage truck with their collected litter. The refuse was picked up by a local trash company for transport to Simeprode (Sistema Integral para el Manejo Ecológico y Procesamiento de Desechos), for sorting and recycling. Non-recyclable or organic matter collected by Simeprode goes into their landfill, which generates bio-energy for the city of Monterrey. For more information on U.S. Consulate Monterrey: http://monterrey.usconsulate.gov/ For more information on Simeprode: http://www.nl.gob.mx/?P=simeprode_20aniversario
The U.S. Consulate in Matamoros partnered with news network Televisa to promote environmental protection and the use of clean energy during the "Televisa Super XHAB 10K Race" on April 18 in downtown Matamoros. The event included the 10k, an environmental eco-fair with information stands on environmental programs, tree donation to fair visitors, and recycling centers placed throughout the race route and attended by the Consulate employees. The Consulate environmental project partners include Televisa, the Mexican Secretariat of Environmental and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT), the office of the Mayor of Matamoros, the Matamoros Water and Sewer Company (JAD), the local social services agency (DIF), the Matamoros Maquila Association (AMMAC), and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ). In the two week run-up to the event, the Consulate and the Matamoros Water and Sewer Company offered presentations to hundreds of Matamoros students promoting the race and a culture of water preservation. After each school visit, a tree was planted as a symbol of our connection with nature and the need for students to protect and nurture their environment. The Consulate will also participate in an Earth Day seminar sponsored by the Mayor of Matamoros on April 22. For more information: http://www.precisiontotal.com/portal/index.php?option=
com_content&view=article&id=15:carrera-super-xhab-10k-190409&catid=20:2009&Itemid=5
At the April 10 quarterly meeting in Tijuana of the Border Agency Fire Council, a subset of the Border Liaison Mechanism in the Californias, CALFIRE chief Pete Scully highlighted the need to bring the BAFC back to its original 1994 mission to enhance cross-border cooperation on fighting and preventing fires. CALFIRE and other U.S. agencies have a good history of cooperation with Tijuana and Tecate municipal firemen, but the BAFC meetings have, over time, migrated to being a forum for U.S. firefighting agencies (CALFIRE, Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Forestry Service, California Emergency Management Agency, Border Patrol, etc.) to coordinate among themselves, rather than a bilateral cooperation committee. U.S. Consulate Tijuana and the Mexican Consulate in San Diego agreed to support BAFC’s efforts to refocus its mission. For more information: http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/cleveland/fire/bordercouncil/index.shtml
At the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, D.C., Mexico, the United States, and Canada reached agreement to work together, along with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), to convert the fuel in Mexico’s research reactor. President Calderon expressed "the strong commitment of Mexico to prevent and suppress nuclear terrorism; with this kind of cooperation with the IAEA and our North American partners, we definitely contribute to reducing the risks associated with illicit trafficking of nuclear materials." The three countries acknowledged that this project also provides an important step towards the replacement of the research reactor with a new low-enriched uranium fuelled reactor in support of Mexico’s nuclear energy development. President Obama indicated, "I welcome this critical step forward, which is a signal of our strong trilateral partnership, and our shared commitment to nuclear security in North America." Prime Minister Harper added that "this nuclear security project demonstrates that collective action can deliver concrete results".
This decision to eliminate the remaining highly enriched uranium reaffirms Mexico’s leadership in nuclear security and nonproliferation and serves as an example for other nations to follow. For more information: http://www.iaea.org/
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, a component of the United States National Institutes of Health, and Mexico’s Ministry of Health have begun collaborating on H1N1 influenza research at four hospitals in Mexico City. In the initial study, investigators will follow individuals who seek medical attention for influenza-like illness and describe their clinical course of illness over time. This research is expected to provide important scientific information to help policymakers, medical professionals, and the general public prepare for future influenza outbreaks. The participating hospitals, part of a new clinical research network organized to study emerging infectious diseases of broad public health concern, are Hospital General Dr. Manuel General González, Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Médicas y Nutrición Salvador Zubirán, Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Respiratorias, and Instituto Nacional de Pediatría. For more information: www.nih.gov
Mexico’s Chamber of Deputies approved reforms designed to combat child obesity to the General Law of Health. Included in the reforms is the requirement that schools require 30 minutes per day of exercise to help children maintain a healthy weight. The reforms come at the end of a long public discussion about junk food in schools and are likely to be difficult to implement because of resistance from Mexico’s public schools. On Thursday, after the teachers’ union raised serious concerns about implementing the law, members of the Secretariat of Public Health (Salud) and senators joined the Secretariat of Public Education (SEP) in questioning the merits of the law and the ability of the Chamber of Deputies to make good laws for the classroom. Salud, the SEP, the union, and senators cite the lack of infrastructure and students’ already full schedule as major objections. Mexico is the second most obese country in the world for adults, and child obesity is on the rise. 
Mexico commemorated World TB Day on March 24 at the National Respiratory Disease Institute (INER) in Mexico City. The event was led by Dr. Mauricio Hernandez-Avila, Undersecretary of Health, with the participation of state and federal health officials as well as representatives of international donor agencies and civil society. The slogan for this year’s event was “Let’s Innovate and Speed Up Efforts against Tuberculosis”. The cornerstone of the event was the release of final results from the National Survey on Drug Resistant Tuberculosis, carried out with technical and financial support from USAID and PAHO in cooperation with Mexico’s National Institute of Public Health (INSP) and the Ministry of Health. The purpose of the survey was to determine the magnitude of multidrug resistant TB in Mexico. Survey results showed that actual prevalence for drug resistant and multi-drug resistant tuberculosis in Mexico is less than 3%, a figure in line with WHO estimates for the Americas and low in comparison to prevalence in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Mexican health officials attributed the relatively low frequency of MDR-TB to the effectiveness of state TB programs. Since 2000, USAID’s bilateral agreement with Mexico for the prevention and control of tuberculosis has focused on strengthening laboratory capacity, training and technical assistance in thirteen priority states where TB burden is high, including all Mexican states on the U.S.-Mexico border. For more information: 
On March 19th, Tijuanenses Collected 45 tons of trash from local beaches and canyons. In the 19th annual “Salvemos La Playa”, an army of volunteers collected trash from Baja beaches and, for the first time this year, rural canyons and ranches. Participants collected five times the amount of trash this year compared to 2009. The organizer of the event is a participant in theU.S. Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program. For more information: 
Inaugurated by the President Felipe Calderon in March of 2010, a 5 MW wind power park located in the gusty Rumorosa region of Baja California is providing wind energy for lighting in Mexicali. The park now generates one million kilowatts, according to David Muñoz Andrade, State Director of Energy Commission. Muñoz Andrade says the state is also analyzing four different sites to develop another project, large enough to supply wind power to other municipalities such as Ensenada, Tijuana, Rosarito and Tecate. Baja will also soon be home to private investment in wind energy. Sempra Energy plans to begin construction in 2011 of a wind park in 2011, also in the Rumorosa area, to tap into California’s controversial Sunrise Powerlink and provide renewable energy to California consumers.
Mexico City has enjoyed the sudden appearance of over 80 bicycle rental stands, one about every 300 meters throughout the central Reforma and Condesa neighborhoods. The unattended stands are filled with new red bicycles sporting the Ecobici label, a program that the Mexican government markets as a “new system of individual urban transport.” For about 300 pesos a year, payable online, users can ride a bike for up to 30 minutes for free, after which they pay additionally by the minute. The Ecobici program, and a related proposal to incorporate bike lanes into downtown streets, is part of the Mexico City government’s Plan Verde, an ambitious environmental agenda that aims to increase bicycle usage from 1% of all trips taken to 5% by 2012. For more information: 
Mexico City’s Secretary of Environment and congress agreed to tackle climate change through a strategic alliance.
The United Nations declared 2010 to be the International Year of Biodiversity to celebrate life on earth and the value of biodiversity for our lives. Biodiversity as a concept is both simple and challenging: it is the variety of life on Earth. It comprises all living things and their unique genetic make-up, ranging from microscopic viruses to the largest animals on the planet such as the blue whale, small algae and big plants such as the giant sequoia, and the expansive landscapes comprised of a variety of ecosystems. We are familiar with the wide range of animals and plants that share our planet but are less familiar with the vital role biodiversity plays in maintaining our mutual life support system and in both the physical and mental aspects of our well-being. The world is invited to take action in 2010 to safeguard the variety of life on earth. For more information: