Concerning specific energy use, a building’s compliance with the NMX, as referred to in previous sections, requires that heating be reduced by at least 10% with respect to the entire building. The reduction must be calculated by methods established by other applicable Mexican Official Standards, which mainly address energy for residential and nonresidential building cooling systems.
As of today, the only Mexican Official Standard that regulates CO2 reduction and energy efficiency is targeted at automotive vehicle companies as an aggregated value in the weighted value for CO2 reduction and energy performance goals in vehicle sales each year.
There are also other laws and regulations that deal with CO2 more generally, although they are not targeted specifically at buildings. They include the General Law of Ecologic Equilibrium and Environmental Protection (Ley General de Equilibrio Ecológico y la Protección al Ambiente) and the Regulation in Prevention and Atmosphere Pollution Control Matters (Reglamento en Materia de Prevención y Control de la Contaminación Atmosférica). In addition, the Energy Transition Law gives specific power to the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (Secretaría de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales) to regulate the power industry’s CO2 emissions through several mechanisms.
On 13 July 2018, the General Law of Climate Change was amended to reflect Mexico’s most recent international commitments under the Paris Agreement. One of the most significant results stemming from these amendments was the establishment of the country’s first legal grounds for a carbon credit market. According to the General Law of Climate Change, the Federal Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, the Climate Change Commission (Comisión Intersecretarial de Cambio Climático) and the Climate Change Board (Consejo de Cambio Climático) must establish the Emissions Trading System (ETS) to develop, at the lowest cost and on a measurable and reportable basis, the carbon credit market, following competitiveness principles of the participating sectors vis-à-vis international markets. An accord establishing the pilot program for the ETS was published on 1 October 2019, and said program was successfully implemented between 1 January 2020 and 31 December 2022. It is expected that the definitive guidelines for Mexico’s carbon credit market will be released in the near future, through the issuance of new regulations and/or an amendment to the existing General Law of Climate Change.