The United Nations has identified seven major environmental problems the world faces. They are climate change (global warming), biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation, environmental pollution (air, water and soil), deforestation, water scarcity and pollution, land degradation and desertification, and ocean acidification and coastal ecosystem destruction. In fact, the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) explains that these seven problems are interconnected, thus creating a triple planetary crisis whose pillars are the climate crisis, the nature/biodiversity crisis and the pollution/waste crisis.
Environmental challenges as described call for a collective response. No country alone would be able to reverse these crises. Cooperation, including financial resources are needed, but, of course, it is the political will to move ahead that is crucial.
Mexico faces the impacts of the mentioned seven major environmental problems. It suffers from climate change which is causing accelerated warming, intense droughts, and rising sea levels, with the country heating up faster than the global average -global temperatures are increasing by approximately 2°C per century, but Mexico is warming at a rate of 3. 2°C per century. Key impacts include severe water scarcity, agricultural losses, and increased frequency of extreme weather, with the first climate-displaced community already recognized -El Bosque, a fishing community in the municipality of Centla, Tabasco, legally displaced by climate change since within ten years, rising sea levels and coastal erosion destroyed homes, a school, and the local fishing infrastructure, forcing roughly 51 families to relocate inland to "El Nuevo Bosque." Key mitigation efforts include the Sonora Plan a comprehensive Mexican federal initiative aimed at promoting sustainable development through renewable energy, with a focus on solar power, lithium mining, and electromobility in Sonora state shifting away from fossil fuels.
Biodiversity loss -even though Mexico is one out of 17 major megadiverse countries in the world containing up to 10 percent of world’s species- is a sad reality due to land-use change, deforestation, and urbanization, with over 28 percent of Mexico’s ecosystems already altered. Key threats to biodiversity include agricultural expansion, illegal logging, and climate change, with at least 70 vertebrate species lost in the last century. The introduction of exotic non-indigenous species plus illicit traffic of wildlife contribute to biodiversity loss.
Pollution, for example in Mexico City is a major challenge. Air pollution is a major environmental and health concern driven by rapid industrialization, dense traffic, and high altitude/topography that traps smog. While improving from the 1990s peak, the capital still experiences dangerous ozone and particle levels, sometimes sparking environmental emergencies and vehicle restrictions. Key associated illnesses include chronic lung disease, acute respiratory infections, asthma exacerbations, heart disease, stroke, lung cancer, and neurological disorders. Soil pollution is also of concern. Over 64 percent of Mexico's soil is degraded due to agricultural, industrial, and mining activities, with over 70 percent of the territory experiencing some form of desertification. Drivers include excessive chemical use, overgrazing, and industrial waste. Major contamination is found in industrial zones and areas with heavy hydrocarbon spills, particularly those associated with PEMEX. Sea pollution is also a critical issue driven by massive plastic waste -around 100 000 tonnes/year-, untreated sewage, and industrial runoff, severely impacting Pacific and Caribbean coasts. Key threats include microplastics, sargassum algae blooms, and chemical waste (arsenic/fluoride), which destroy ecosystems and harm tourism in areas like Oaxaca and Quintana Roo. Around two tonnes of plastic enter the marine environment daily in Oaxaca alone. The Mexico-US Border faces challenges with cross-border wastewater in the Tijuana River, leading to joint efforts for water treatment rehabilitation.
Deforestation is a sad reality. Mexico ranks among the top 10 countries worldwide for high rates of deforestation and tree cover loss, with recent data frequently placing it within the top 10 for tropical forest loss and between 2001 and 2024, the country lost over 5 million hectares of tree cover! Primarily driven by agricultural expansion (cattle ranching and agribusiness), illegal logging, wildfires, and urbanization, this destruction is severely affecting biodiversity hotspots, particularly in states like Campeche, Chiapas, and again, Quintana Roo.
Land degradation and desertification are severe -over 70 percent of the national territory suffering from soil degradation, representing one of the most severe cases in Latin America. Roughly 115 million hectares are affected by drought, driven by deforestation, and changing land use, putting agricultural land at high risk. Desertification, affecting over half the country, is exacerbated by climate change in arid regions, leading to soil erosion and migration. Key drivers include chemical degradation (17. 8 percent of area) and water erosion (11. 9 percent)
Coastal ecosystem destruction is critical and accelerating -with nearly half of the coastal dunes degraded and significant habitat loss from disorderly development, particularly in the Gulf of Mexico and Yucatan. It is driven by rapid, often illegal, urbanization, tourism infrastructure development, and climate-driven, high-intensity storms. Over 31. 5 km of beaches in the Mexican Caribbean are experiencing critical erosion, while mangrove forests have diminished by up to 60 percent in areas like Acapulco. These losses threaten biodiversity and increase vulnerability to sea-level rise.
Last but not least, water stress. Mexico faces a severe water crisis, ranking 26th globally in water stress, with over half its territory experiencing high water depletion. Severe droughts affect 59 percent of municipalities, with 84 percent of the country facing drought conditions by mid-2024. Key drivers include massive agricultural water use (76 percent), inefficient infrastructure, overexploited aquifers, and climate change. Over 82 percent of the country’s territory are experiencing water shortages and 14 states aare projected to face extreme water stress by 2030 with some parts of Mexico City facing potential "Day Zero" shutdowns.
It is very difficult to determine what the environmental priority that deserves most attention is, but water stress, no doubt, is of critical importance. Water means life. Water access favors conflicts -a few weeks ago this author explained the problems the 1944 Water Treaty between Mexico and the US is facing due, among other reasons, hydric stress, a term not even considered at the time the agreement was negotiated.
Before 1992, Mexican water legislation distinguished between water concessions and water allocations. Concessions were for the commercial use of water, such as in rural irrigation and industry. Allocations were made to municipalities, which were charged with supplying drinking water to their residents. Melissa Schumacher et al from the Universidad de las Américas in Puebla, analyses the relevance of the ejido system in Mexico that is linked to water stress in the country. She explains that “ejidos were the axiom of Mexico’s rural land distribution after the Mexican Revolution, until they became an obsolete tenure system that did not achieve better quality of life or wealth for its tenants. The paradox of the ejido system is that although it is going extinct because it is considered an “irregular land tenure system” by modern land policies, half of Mexico’s territory is still held by ejidos and rural communities, including mountains, forests, natural reserves, mines and lakes, among others. More than 5. 6 million ejidatarios offer food, cattle, raw materials, fodder, as well as construction materials, handcrafts and touristic services to national and international markets. Moreover, they provide invaluable environmental services for biodiversity conservation, carbon capture and aquifer recharge.” She adds that “as land speculators crave cheap, available land to invest in, the privatization of ejido tenure in peri-urban areas leads to agricultural and natural lands becoming potentially urban in order to accommodate such investments. After the last Land Reform and liberalization of ejidos in 1992, low-priced ejidos and rural land were available for the big housing market, especially when settled with urban areas.” In fact, the 1992 legislation created a water market in Mexico favoring extrativism for the benefit of companies, such as mining and industries like Coca-Cola.
Here comes the water scarcity problem, since ejidatarios compete for limited water resources against powerful agricultural, industrial, and urban interests, leading to conflicts that are more and more frequent. An example of this is the challenges that Casa Madero, the oldest wine producer in America -founded in 1597- is facing with ejidatarios in Parras, Coahuila in northern Mexico. The company says that the conflict over the ownership of water with community members of the San Lorenzo and 28 de Agosto ejidos since 2018 could reduce its vineyards by 50 percent.
The winery’s management claims that political actors and other wine producers are behind the conflict. For more than seven years, the volume of water available in the area has decreased drastically. Previously, the irrigation system that supplies the vineyards and other crops could transport up to 1 000 liters per second. Today, that amount has been reduced by 60 percent, leaving less than 400 liters per second. This reduction has had a direct impact on wine production, a product that, on average, requires between 600 and 850 liters of water per bottle.
The water problem at Casa Madero is not recent and dates to the way the resource has historically been distributed in the region. The water has irrigated Casa Madero's vineyards since the 16th century. Yet, over time, the rules governing its use have changed. The oldest agreement dates back to 1899, and other agreements have been signed over the years when the ejidos were formed.
These agreements stipulated that water should be distributed proportionally among the various users. However, the dwindling water supply in the irrigation canals has led to conflict between the ejidos (communal landholdings) and Casa Madero (the municipal water company). The central problem is that some ejidos are demanding the same amount of water they were allocated in the last century, without considering that the total volume has decreased. The ejidos claim they were allocated 120 liters per second in 1937, and do not seem to care that there's less water today, and they insist on still getting 120 liters. Obviously, to get them, they have to take them from someone else. Thus the dispute has led to land invasions at the water distribution points and has exacerbated the crisis. Last year in February a fire that affected part of the vineyard and some wineries was the breaking point. Casa Madero has publicly denounced the harassment, indicating that previous threats could be linked to this disaster and it has been said that the fire may have been arson. So, conflict is escalating and now Casa Madero needs to double its investment in private security, including hiring armed guards to protect their staff and the vineyard.
This controversy is the result of the 1992 legislation. The water to which ejidatarios are entitled comes from a stream, or rather a water source, located within the Casa Madero facilities. On October 11, 1993, a ruling was published in the Official Gazette of the Federation granting the town of San Lorenzo—located in the municipality of Parras—"the necessary and sufficient volume of water, to be determined by the competent authority, for the irrigation of one hundred hectares, benefiting 70 ejido members."
However, the ejido members have complained that in recent years their access to water has been restricted, with the winery granting them less than they are entitled to. The winery responds that "today water availability is lower, which affects everyone equally, ejido members and farmers of Parras." Thus both parts agree that they disagree. The relevance of this situation is that similar problems exist by hundreds or even thousands in Mexico and the root is water stress. Thus better policies and the rule of law are needed to address properly the environmental challenges that so far put Mexico on the verge of a catastrophe. Learning from policies and successful experiences in other countries plus international cooperation may help Mexico to address the situation.
Editor’s Note: The above guest column was penned by María Cristina Rosas, a professor and researcher in the faculty of political and social sciences at the National Autonomous University of Mexico in Mexico City. The column appears in The Rio Grande Guardian International News Service with the permission of the author. Rosas can be reached via email at: mcrosas@prodigy.net.mx
