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This paper analyzes the importance of the melting of the Arctic ice for Mexico. The research examines the impacts of this process, the Mexican government’s environmental policies, citizen’s perception and the media’s approach to climate change and the melting of the Arctic ice. To obtain the results, an exploratory analysis was carried out, from which it was concluded that, despite the importance of the Arctic melting in the current climate crisis affecting all countries, and specifically Mexico, within the political agendas of the nation, the citizenry and the mass media, both climate change and the Arctic melting are secondary issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept, and implementation, of coordinated global climate governance at the metropolitan level is one of the biggest challenges in most of the world's cities. Yet--ironically--it is also one of the most overlooked aspects of the international environmental agenda. Specifi- cally, one of the main challenges is to achieve coordination in decision making, as well as in the implementation of actions to homologate the objectives of the different government agendas at all levels, i.e. the constitution of climate and environmental policies not only at the federal level but also at the state and municipal level (in the Mexican case). This article reviews the link achieved between the nine municipal governments that make up the metropolitan area of Guadalajara (AMG) through PACmetro, which promotes coordinated climate governance and addresses the gaps in international mechanisms for climate change policies. The above, generated through the synergies of different agendas, through the Institute for Development Planning and Management (Imeplan). Imeplan has integrated different actors, from different levels, to carry out coordinated actions on urban climate policies in western Mexico that contribute to the construction of a common urban agenda. The conclusion shows the contributions of Latin American local governments to a coordinated climate governance according to local contexts and how the will of cities contributes to the strengthening of the link between global climate governance, the exercise of paradiplomacy between different public, private and hybrid actors towards a common urban agenda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the effect of renewable energy consumption, electricity demand, sustainable economic growth and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions on international trade in the countries of U.S. - Mexico - Canada Agreement (USMCA). To do this, unit root, cointegration and causality tests are applied, and the long-term relationship between the variables is estimated. The results suggest that the variables are integrated of different order and that there is a long-term equilibrium relationship between them. There is a positive relationship between the consumption of renewable energy, the demand for electrical energy and sustainable economic growth on international trade, while CO2 emissions reduce it. This implies that it is important to analyze energy policies that encourage increased consumption of renewable energy to boost international trade, in order to accelerate sustainable economic growth in the region. In addition, the feedback relationship between CO2 emissions and the demand for electrical energy could have important implications within the energy and environmental policy for the panel of countries in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mining activities depend on the feasibility of extracting non-renewable resources, so the interruptions of the mining cycle are intrinsic issues to mining, depending on economic, social, or technical factors that can obstruct the continuity of the process. This article addresses the characterization of different types of interruptions, encompassed here within what we call the post-mining stage, emphasizing on the perception of the population that is linked to the sites where mining is interrupted. Five case studies are taken that reflect different types of post-mining activities and processes, framed in the situation observed in 2018, using qualitative methods from the geography of perception. The contribution of the research lies in unveiling how the actions carried out by companies and governments overlap, contrasting with the perception of the populations that are linked to mining. This work is an approach to the understanding of what happens with the towns and the populations linked to mining once it ceases: how the relationship with the site and with its daily life is modified throughout the post-mining phase of differentiated way in each case presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) culminated in the signing of the new United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) and a series of symbolic changes on environmental issues. Environmental protection was not a priority for any of the three member states during the round of negotiations. This has been analyzed and criticized by environmental groups, who argue that a twenty-first-century trade agreement should not ignore the environmental and climate crisis we are suffering today. This article summarizes the content of the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC), still in effect, and analyzes the changes slated for environmental issues with the signing of usmca and its new environmental accord, the Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (AEC). Both usmca's Chapter 24, dedicated to the environment, and the new aec are steps backward that paralyze the advances for environmental regulation in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Protected Natural Areas emerged from politicalenvironmental conservation proposals, however, the diffuse information about their categorization and territorial delimitation forces us to articulate the social aspect to deepen the cultural management of a Natural Protected Area (ANP) included in the center of Mexico. This is a highly industrialized place with one of the highest rates of population growth nationwide. The question is: What is the environmental scope of the participatory models in the management of natural resources in a Natural Protected Area of a water area in the State of Mexico? The different practices and discourses of the current beneficiaries are distinguished. We expect to provide some cultural patterns that support current and future environmental conservation policies, but we also believe that it is imperative to instruct those involved in these ecosystems regarding cultural management prior to environmental management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public policies formulated to confront the ecological and social equity crises of development have had little impact. Recently, several disciplines have converged on the socioecosystem (ses) concept as an ideal theoretical framework for managing integrated social and natural systems for their sustainable development, and its rapid incorporation into environmental public policy is sought. A consultation was undertaken to gauge the expert opinion of Mexico's federal environment sector officials with regard to the ses approach and its potential as a new basis for public policy. The results demonstrate that although the experts are unfamiliar with the ses approach, they value the policy attributes which characterize it, indicating that if these were fully incorporated into current policies, they could help correct their deficiencies. A majority of experts consider the more integral ses approach offers advantages, and it is concluded that these key actors are receptive to the approach and its possible adoption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the concept of environmental policy integration, qualitative expert interview and participative mapping, this paper focuses on the causes and consequences of environmental impacts on mangroves triggered by ill-coordinated public policies at México's southern Pacific coast. In this context, we identified not only the specific measures applied by governmental institutions and their impacts, but also other crucial political, socioeconomic, and environmental factors, which determined the scale and spatial extension of ecosystem degradation. As a result, public policies lacking environmental integration, particularly stream straightening and incentives to promote the production of biofuel made form African oil palms, were the decisive triggers, but not the sole agents of mangroves' degradation. The scale and spatial extension of observed impacts rather depend on multiply factors, not necessarily related to public policies. Moreover, an explicitly spatial dimension to the qualitative results is provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present work analyzes the operation rules of eight environmental public policy programs applied in the conservation land of Mexico City in order to demonstrate the contradictions that they present, and thus to verify that there is institutional dysfunctionality, which can lead to potential environmental impact. The analytical framework is institutional analysis and development, and methodologically, it uses three stages: a) revision of the operation rules, b) the presentation of analysis criteria with assigned ranges, and c) the construction of multidimensional graphs; showing the index of institutional dysfunctionality in a horizontal and vertical way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article studies the environmental industries of Mexico and the United States Within the framework of the North American Free Trade NAFTA where Mexican industry lags behind lack of funds due to recurring economic crises. Should this situation not be overcome, the benefits of foreign trade for the Mexican environmental industry will remain low. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

La puesta en práctica de nuevos instrumentos de política ambiental no sólo abre la posibilidad de elaborar y adoptar mecanismos innovadores, la clave es comprometer y corresponsabilizar a diversos actores en la gestión ambiental, en la toma de decisiones, en la búsqueda de la transversalidad del ambiente en planes y programas. Esto está muy lejos de ocurrir en nuestro país. Por ello, la gobernabilidad ambiental sigue prevaleciendo sobre los intentos de una gobernanza casi inexistente. Y aunque nuestra legislación es de avanzada, su puesta en práctica sigue una cadena donde montañas de papel y ríos de tinta cobran relevancia frente a cambios que son fundamentales frente al deterioro ambiental. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The research contributes to the study of industrial groups and their influence on the environmental regulation in Mexico. Polluting industries have incentives to influence and avoid inspection and verification visits of the Federal Attorney for Environmental Protection (Profepa). Through principal component analysis, it is defined the potential ability to influence of 62 manufacturing industries, based on their organizational structures and power resources. A model is estimated to determine what are the effects of trade links, production, potential ability to influence, and inspection priority for the Profepa, in the visits of the Profepa. The results indicate that the level of production, and the inspection priority for the Profepa determine the inspections; whereas level of priority determines the verification visits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transformation of the organizational processes and institutions was analyzed in a context of the bird watching tourism (American Flamingo -Phoenicopterus ruber) and the establishment of the Biosphere Reserve Ria Lagartos (RBRL). A perspective of collective action was used, and quantitative and qualitative approach to analyze the effects that tourism generates in communities living within protected areas. The results reveal a weakening of local organizations to give priority to the institutionalization imposed by external actors has caused new problems with negative consequences for conservation. In Rio Lagartos there is a social base that can enable collaboration among social actors, but it requires collective action mechanisms that improve social organization and local institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The absence and / or failure of adequate public policies for the protection and preservation of the environment in Mexico allows the existence of a high rate of infrastructure and equipment which is important for the country's development and are located in areas of natural hazard. This descriptive and explanatory case study combines documentary and empirical research to analyze the recent construction of the Bicentennial nursery in city of Teziutlán, Sierra Norte, Puebla State. This is an area that it is not adequate for the construction of urban equipment and is characterized by its landslides scenario, showing the lack of public policy to integrate the existing regulations in the investment project. The knowledge about these risk scenarios, through research, criticism and the reporting of incorrect decision-makings in the development programs will provide viable alternatives, in order to mitigate the risk, prioritizing sustainability planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes steps towards environmental policy integration (EPI) in Mexico, with special emphasis in agricultural policy. So far, the country has mostly used communicative instruments to reach this aim. Semi-structured interviews with high-ranking officials from the ministries of Agriculture and of the Environment show that even though these measures break ground for public servants with the will to implement the principle of EPI in policy towards the countryside, they fail to make environmentally friendly policies mandatory. Yet, recent efforts to achieve this have attained some success. It remains to be seen if they are preserved and further enhanced by the next administrations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of non-timber forest products is associated with the conservation of eco-systems and the generation of income for forest inhabitants. However, this is not an automatic correlation. In the Lacandon Forest, the sale of camedor palm does generate income for local communities, but appears to have resulted in an over-exploitation of the resource. The government has attempted to regulate this activity through Wildlife Conservation Management Units (UMAs), but with limited environmental and social outcomes. We describe the harvesting and production of camedor palm in the Lacandon region and analyze the effectiveness of the UMAs, concluding that their limitations are the result of the instrument's emphasis on technical and normative aspects rather than on processes of negotiation and conciliation amongst stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goal of the research is the webometric analysis of the main Spanish central Government sites concerning environmental issues. In this line, topography, structure, interaction, and meta-description of the contents are studied so that results can be compared with the Mexican environment websites. To achieve this, the Mbot webcrawler tool - which analyzes the site extent and dimension, the website ranking, the meta-descriptors ratio by page, the frequency analysis of the description terms and some statistical tables to estimate the sample - has been used in this academic. Because of results, several recommendations to improve the search engines indexing and remove bad practices that limit the access to public information as well as the information retrieval have been developed. It can be outlined the interplay between the Spanish environment Websites and its European counterpart, the number of unpopular information sources, syndication channels that enable public environmental information monitoring and, lastly, the ideal range of frequency of occurrence for the terms used in the meta-descriptions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The environment is a complex space where multiple interests converge, so the traditional government has been insufficient to respond to the new demands of the environmental management. In this sense, the theory governance suggests a bigger role for social actors in decision-making for a more effective resolution of environmental problems. This article focuses on the Civil Society Organizations (cso's) of Ensenada, due to its relevance in the public sphere and the ecological value of the area. Twenty two esos, its participants and the network of actors were characterized through a survey. It was found that three types of esos are focusing on the conservation agenda and urban sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to verify if there is any effect in the income distribution for the Mexican economy when applying a tax on fossil fuels in order to reduce CO2 emissions. In order to reach this goal a computable general equilibrium model was built following the Shoven and Whalley method. It is observed that the application of a tax achieves a reduction in fossil fuel demand, but it does not have any meaningful consequence on the income redistribution of the society. All the levels of the economy have a loss in welfare as a consequence of the application of this tax. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A monitoring and evaluation (M&E) framework is proposed for evaluating the effectiveness and results of recovery programs for species at risk of extinction. The proposal is based on analysis of a Mexican governmental program that implemented 14 recovery projects over a period of ten years, revision of eleven projects from a subsequent program, participatory observation and analysis of similar programs in other countries. The proposed framework is suitable for addressing the M&E needs of the current species at risk recovery projects in Mexico. Criteria and indicators are proposed that address ecological, management and socioeconomic aspects explicit within the conservation and management actions prescribed in the recovery projects. M&E activities involve the participation of several social sectors that collaborate in conservation initiatives. Indicators were standardized in order that the information obtained, analyzed and compared can be integrated into an environmental information system for the management of species at risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work a revision of the acceptation process of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) at international and national level, as an indispensable tool of the environmental public policy directed to the implementation of the principles of sustainability is present and stands out the importance and the complex problematic of the construction of environmental indicators during this process. Methodologically, the work is based on the documentary investigation and the accomplishment of the consultations with the specialists and the authorities in the matter, including the organization of one workshop. From what a state of art and with posterior discussion of advances and limitations of the EIA process and of environmental indicators consider in Mexico and for the case study of the Federal District. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During Porifio Diaz's government, naturalistic and geographic studies of Mexican regions were fostered in order to categorize and study their natural resources for economic benefit. In particular, engineer José Narciso Rovirosa, published various studies detailing the best ways of utilizing the local flora and fauna in the Tabasco state. Consequently, the latter led to the quick transformation of its ecosystems in the third quarter of the nineteenth century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to the Regulation of the General Law of Ecological Equilibrium and Protection to the Environment (Spanish acronym LGEEPA), areas with 'priority of attention' within a territory are defined as zones presenting environmental conflicts due to antagonistic sectorial activities and areas which, due to their characteristics, deserve immediate environmental attention. The Program of General Ecological Planning of the Territory establishes these areas based on two indicators: the level of inter-sectorial conflict, which is defined in regional workshops with the participation of Federal Public Administration institutions, and the present state of the environment of 145 biophysical environmental units (BEUs) in the Mexican territory that are evaluated by means of 16 indicators of biophysical degradation, anthropic modification and socioeconomic situation. The sum total of inter-sectorial conflicts by BEU allowed the establishment of five categories (null to very high). Based on these categories, five levels of priority of attention were determined. The level of priority of attention is very high in 0.90 percent of the country's surface, high in 6.75 percent, medium in 39.40 percent, low in 21.81 percent and 31.14 percent of the national territory of Mexico currently does not need attention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mexico has suffered big environmental losses due to different causes, and experiences a great inequality within each state. The objective of this article is to study the link between inequality and the environment. Specifically, it will explain the relationship between power inequality and the environmental policies in each Mexican state. Two econometric estimations are made: the first one to see the determinants of the distribution of power, and the second one to see the connection between power inequality (and three control variables) and the environmental policies of each state in Mexico. We found that higher levels of power inequality are related to less quality in environmental policies. This is because individuals that benefit from pollution-generating activities are more capable of influencing political decisions, as they are relatively wealthy and well educated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The adoption of sustainable development as objective represents a global issue for developing countries and international organizations. In this new context, ensuring that environmental considerations are integrated into the development planning is being promoted strongly, as well as approaches adapted to implement these strategic interventions that are complementary to the environmental impact assessment (EIA). This article advocates the adoption of the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) as a practical mechanism to make it operational environmental sustainability. It analyzes the current status of the development planning process and the EIA as a baseline for the proposed implementation of SEA in Mexico. Finally, the article proposes the reform of the General Law of Ecological Equilibrium and Environmental Protection to add the SEA as a tool of preventive environmental policy to assess the environmental impact of certain sectoral, regional, institutional and special programs referred in the Act Planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental policy in Mexico is already part of the national security agenda. However, one of its key planning instruments, the OET (Ecological and Territorial Planning), is not having the expected impact. Indigenous peoples and territories should be considered as a strategic sector, should OET is to be implemented. However a closer look into the current state of affairs is necessary. Therefore, a socio-environmental analysis is performed on the Sonora biocultural complexes, from the political ecology and biocultural perspectives. This interdisciplinary analysis conjugates the epistemologies and methodologies of the social and ecological sciences. The socio-environ-mental analysis is organized using two major themes, contemporary territorialiry and indigenous community. We conclude that OET in its actual format is not operational, thus, several recommendations to increase its efficiency are presented. Lastly, we underline the importance of attention to biocultural complexes as a first step towards environmental justice, as well as its capacity to influence in favor of global environ-mental issues, such as climate change and water quality and availability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article performs an analysis of the relationship that exists between economic growth and the environment in the 32 states of the Mexican Republic. The Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) suggests that there is indeed a relationship between economic growth and the environment. As economies come to enjoy greater economic growth, so environmental degradation becomes apparent, and once a certain level of growth is reached, the willingness to pay to conserve the environment increases. In the case of the Mexican economy, by applying convergence analysis using cross-sectional panel data we find that: i) there exists β-convergence as regards trees planted, protected natural areas, environmental licenses and the volume of water treatment in per capita levels; ii) there is no evidence of σ-convergence in the environmental variables for the states of the Mexican economy, except in protected natural areas, trees planted and environmental licenses; iii) no relation-ship is to be found between economic growth and the increase in the care taken of environmental variables, except for the volume of waste collected and the volume of sewage; iv) the results suggest that the environment is not a priority issue in the Mexican economy according to the EKC hypothesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyzes the importance of an approach on local environmental management regarding the quality of air in the Mexicali and Imperial Valley region. The paper discusses that the absence of a strategic approach in the environmental local policy will enhance the air pollution in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gender mainstreaming has become the major tool for governments to promote gender equality since 1995 Beijing Conference. This paper reviews the achievements of GM in Mexican environmental policy through the analysis of two programs operated by SEMARNAT, Equidad de Género, Medio Ambiente y Sustentabilidad program (2002-2006), Hacia la Igualdad de Género y la Sustentabilidad Ambiental program (2007-2012), and Programa Nacional Hídrico (2007-2012). Drawing on this analysis, the paper makes some recommendations to mainstream gender in the design and implementation of the country's water policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last sixteen years the Federal Government of Mexico has given growing importance to protected natural areas, and particularly the biosphere reserves. In this essay we examine the effect of this support on the biospheres' fulfilling the different functions outlined by the Seville Strategy, promoted by UNESCO and adopted by member countries. The first reports published on the biodiversity and ecosystem ecology protection in these areas are contradictory and not, in general, very optimistic. Some reserves—especially those that have a laboratory or are associated with a research institute—are very important research centres, and have made a truly important contribution to our knowledge. The incorporation and participation of local communities is improving although there are several aspects that are not yet well developed and in more than one instance there is limited acceptance by the local population. In recent years, there has been notable headway with payment for environmental services. The recommendation that biosphere reserves serve as laboratories for in the search for new alternatives that favour sustainable development at the regional level has not been met; mainly because of the lack of cooperation with other government development programs. It is evident that the biodiversity cannot be effectively protected if no attention is paid to what is happening outside the protected natural areas, thus the last part of the essay deals with rural, ejido, community and private conservation proposals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyses the role of public institutions in environmental management, and the application of the National Environmental Audit Programme in the Mexican tourism sector. The research recognizes the role of the hoteliers in the development of tourist zones, and in the alteration of the natural environment. This is an exploratory study of the general perception of management of 28 hotels in the Cancún area regarding the environmental management of their businesses, the factors which limit implementation, the benefits obtained, and commitment to public policy. The results show that the effects of policy on environmental management are mildly positive. For future research, the proposal is to replicate the analysis in other tourism zones, and to quantify the effects of environmental management and performance, profitability and competitiveness of the businesses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Theoretical identification of research approaches and academic formation with a political ecology perspective is becoming more frequent every time in Mexico. This upsurge of political ecology, as a discipline and theoretical framework, is quite encouraging for those who analyze environmental change from a social and political perspective. Notwithstanding, we consider that a thorough review of this discipline's development in Mexico is necessary in order to delimit its field of inquiry and to avoid its generalization and simplification. In this study we offer a synthetic account of the origin and evolution of political ecology and its main theoretical approaches. We also present a general historical review of research efforts devoted to analyze environmental change from a social perspective in Mexico; lastly, we discuss the traits that characterize Mexican political ecology, its main lines of research, and their relevance in Mexico's environmental scenario. Given the high diversity and quantity of Mexico's socio-environmental studies, this work should be considered a preliminary characterization and history of political ecology in Mexico that may be useful as a basis for a further and more complete analysis about this discipline development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study is aimed at evaluating —within the framework of the Mexican government's environmental policy and its contribution to alleviating poverty —the impact of using corn in bio-ethanol production on the economy of a rural community in the state of Yucatan. The results of the simulation, carried out using an accountable multiplier model based on a Social Accounting Matrix, demonstrate that the effects of an increase in the demand for cereal on the GDP of a subsistence economy and on household incomes are minimal. The study proposes to provide an incentive to the demand for craft industries or the production of honey in the locality, as alternatives for sustainable development. The two options have significant impacts on GDP and on the reduction of poverty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Because of its vulnerable situation, the city of Motozintla (Chiapas, Mexico) is exposed to the risk of hydrometeorological disasters. Both the rains of 1998 and Hurricane Stan in 2005 caused a great deal of damage and many casualties. The authorities responded by imposing structural measures in the xelajú River and by resettling families from risk areas. Creating the new neighborhoods of Milenio and Vida Mejor reconigured the space by disrupting social networks and redistributing risk. We expose some of the implications of the resettlement, emphasizing the need for applying participatory policies and for adapting the disaster recovery programs to the local context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a balance sheet of the actions carried out by the Mexican-U.S. binational environmental agencies. The Border Environment Cooperation Commission (BECC) and the North American Development Bank (NADB), their projects and actions, are analyzed 16 years after NAFTA came into effect. The article emphasizes the challenges these agencies will face in coming years, given the increasing need to put into practice the development-environment binomial along the shared border. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Es en los últimos años ha surgido con mayor interés la atención hacia la problemática ambiental a nivel internacional, gubernamental y empresarial, sumando ahora el componente de la Responsabilidad Social Corporativa (RSC). Los tratados, acuerdos y encuentros internacionales, fueron el punto de partida para que los gobiernos nacionales adquirieran el compromiso de generar sus propias políticas. En México se instrumenta una política ambiental a partir de los años setenta, pero desde los años veinte, ya existían leyes indirectamente vinculadas con los temas ambientales. Sin embargo, a pesar de que actualmente se cuenta con una estructura y una legislación sólida, la política gubernamental y la responsabilidad empresarial aún se encuentran en curso de definición por lo que el desarrollo ambiental y la responsabilidad corporativa son todavía procesos incipientes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Counties and town councils (boroughs) have a direct, immediate and unavoidable responsibility towards the environment. A few years ago, they were not regarded as priority functions of the counties. Today they are not only a basic legal obligation, but a social commitment of the local government to the community. This paper is centered on the responsibilities that the Federal and Local Political Constitutions impose exclusively on boroughs and townships regarding public services. The way those services are delivered have a direct consequence on the local environment. Drinking water, domestic drainage, waste disposal, waste water treatment, hygiene and cleanliness of marketplaces and other services are today's challenges for the municipal authorities; if not attended to in an efficient way they will have a negative direct impact on the quality of life of the community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasingly evident deterioration of public health due to atmospheric pollution has forced governments to design and implement diverse policies for the control of air pollutants. Relying on quantitative methods, we investigate the effectiveness of intergovernmental policies for the abatement of air pollution in four metropolitan areas (Guadalajara, Monterrey, Valle de Mexico, and Valle de Toluca) over a ten year period. Our statistical analysis shows that, when observed concurrently, the efforts of these governments to reduce the concentrations of sulphur and nitrogen dioxids have been effective only partially. In the cases of Guadalajara and Monterrey, our qualitative analysis reveals that specific characteristics of these policies (the degree of participation of industries and municipal governments) and the existence of international commercial liaisons (export-oriented industries tend to adopt environmental-friendly policies) explain, to a large extent, the evolution of the concentration of pollutants in each city. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The environmental problem is so complex that it is necessary to involve all the social actors upon addressing this issue; and at the same time, it is essential to guarantee access to the environmental information available, because it is an indispensable factor in making decisions that are environmentally suitable and socially endorsed; which would allow for sustainable development to be achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the significance of social and institutional conditions for the design of environmental and conservation policies. It discusses the importance of recognizing the variety of ways communities use their natural resources and the diversity of perceptions and valuations of their utility and protection. The author explores the environmental conservation strategies developed in the area of Sierra de Juarez (state of Oaxaca, Mexico), taking into account the natural characteristics of the area, its social fabric and the local government structures.

Se discuten la evaluación y el análisis de las políticas y programas de desarrollo rural y ambiental. En particular, se enfoca en el impacto que generan en la calidad de vida y en el manejo de servicios ambientales. Se presentan seis artículos sobre las experiencias de productores y productoras en Venezuela, Costa Rica, Colombia, México y Argentina.

The gender, environment, and development approach proposes the study of women's fights and obligations toward natural resources, as well as institutions and property relations that govern the access to such resources within specific socio-environmental contexts. From this viewpoint, this paper studies the fishing activities of native women and men from Veracruz, Mexico, focusing on two processes: the gender construction of the fishing arts and the gender socialization in fishing activities. This paper shows that both processes make women specialize in certain water resources, which are important to securing feeding to their communities. An environmental policy with a gender perspective will be able to visualize woman roles in food provisioning, and to strengthen their control over the resources they currently manage, based on the environmental knowledge women have about them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present work is aimed to improve externalities assessment using Simplified Methodologies, through the obtaining of depletion velocities for primary pollutants SO2, NOx and TSP (Total Suspended Particles) and for sulfate and nitrate aerosols, the secondary pollutants created from the first ones. The main goal proposed was to estimate these values for different cases, in order to have an ensemble of values for the geographic area, among which the most representative could be selected for using it in future studies that appeal to a simplified methodology for the regional dispersion assessment, taking into account the requirements of data, qualified manpower and time for a detailed approach. The results where obtained using detailed studies of the regional dispersion that were conduced for six power facilities, three from Cuba (at the localities of Mariel, Santa Cruz and Tallapiedra) and three from México (at the localities of Tuxpan, Tula and Manzanillo). The depletion velocity for SO2 was similar for all cases. Results obtained for Tallapiedra, Santa Cruz, Mariel and Manzanillo were similar. For Tula and Tuxpan a high uncertainty was found. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We analyzed the discursive and relational effects of the pilot project 'Reduction of Emissions due to Deforestation and Forest Degradation' (REDD+) in domestic units both entitled and not entitled to land access in the common land Felipe Carrillo Puerto, Quintana Roo. Based on semi-structured surveys and interviews, we identified those mechanisms favoring the adoption of preservation practices by the common land owner-residents while restricting the traditional forest management. These dynamics bring about changes in the subsistence strategies of the domestic units and limit the participation and benefit distribution to women, the youth, and settlers who do not own the land. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]