Leticia Merino: “We need to change the water laws that granted concessions to major capital without regulation.”

Sociologist Leticia Merino is one of the most authoritative voices on the environmental problems Mexico faces. She has maintained a personal and professional commitment for decades in the fight against the devastation caused by mining, deforestation, and food insecurity affecting the country’s most impoverished populations. A researcher at the Institute of Social Research at UNAM and coordinator of the Socio-Environmental Agenda 2024, the academic warns in this interview that the current water management system, in place since the early 1990s, makes this population more vulnerable to the ravages of climate change and demands change, as it granted concessions to large capital without regulation.

Question. Mexico has been experiencing several years of drought and temperatures are rising each year. How would you rate the country’s environmental situation?

Answer. Very serious. There are a number of very strong environmental problems. The issue of water, which is complicated by the water management system, the concession system established after 1992 by [former president] Carlos Salinas de Gortari. This system created a water rights market, and what has happened is that large farmers, such as those producing avocado, tomatoes, or export crops, monopolize a large part of the water without paying for it, as it is considered for agricultural use.

Q. How has this system affected the population?

A. There is a very poor distribution of water, very unequal and very unjust. It does not impose any obligations on large water users to control pollution. As a result, we have around half or more of the watersheds overexploited, also with a very high level of pollution, very serious in different rivers that are considered environmental emergency zones, and there are really no practices for the restoration of water bodies.

Q. Mexico is very vulnerable to climate change; how do you assess the policies related to climate commitments?

A. Mexico makes an effort with climate commitments. But Mexico is not among the major emitters like the United States or Canada. I believe the country’s issue, to speak in the climate change lexicon, is not about mitigation but about adaptation.

Q. And how should Mexico adapt?

A. It is not adapting. Adaptation would involve improving water management, rationalizing, prioritizing it based on water security interests, food security, not prioritizing export agriculture or mining.

Q. Mexico is the fifth country with the most biodiversity in the world, meaning that the territory houses around 12% of global biodiversity. Would you say this wealth is now at risk?

A. Mexican forests are increasingly vulnerable to droughts. Droughts and rising temperatures increase the presence of pests and forest diseases. The abandonment of forest policy causes pests to move north as temperatures rise. Pests are appearing in forests where they previously did not exist, in forests that lack immunity, like us with COVID.

Q. Is Mexico losing the battle against climate change?

A. The deterioration is exacerbated in many regions due to this extractive and hyperproductive orientation focused on export at the expense of the environment and local populations. Many of the collective lands, which were at least a support for the care of ecosystems, have been sold. In Yucatán, access to land has been lost, and large agricultural projects have been implemented. In Mexico, the lack of regulation and prioritization of environmental issues is detrimental.

Q. What impact does this lack of environmental policies have on the most vulnerable populations?

A. Look, I believe the Government is trying to do a lot in environmental issues, particularly the Federal Attorney for Environmental Protection, which is responsible for monitoring and sanctioning, but they average five inspectors per state. Imagine a state like Chihuahua, which is half the size of Spain, with five inspectors to cover coastal, forestry, and industrial issues, with salaries of 750 dollars a month. So, no matter how willing you are, with that budget, not much can be accomplished.

Q. Do you think there is political will?

A. I believe there is will in the Government, but there is not the prioritization that environmental issues require compared to other matters. The lack of regulation and abuse affect both urban and already precarious rural populations. Without environmental oversight and without promoting more sustainable activities, environmental vulnerability increases, and the poorest people suffer. Mexico is in a very delicate situation.

Q. Do you consider that the environment is a priority for this Government?

A. Honestly, I think not. I believe there is more understanding of environmental issues due to Claudia Sheinbaum’s experience and more appreciation than in the previous government, because [former president] López Obrador neither understood nor cared. I think Claudia distances herself a bit and has someone highly prominent, very knowledgeable about the subject, who was the director of ECLAC, Dr. Alicia Bárcenas, as head of the environmental issue, but there are no resources.

Q. What urgent measures should be taken to avoid the consequences of climate change?

A. One measure for which citizens have mobilized for ten years is the change of the water law, which opened the door to large capital without regulation. It is essential to prioritize this human right to water and food; to prohibit GMOs, the use of glyphosate, because in Mexico 80 pesticides are permitted that are banned in Europe and other Latin American countries.

Q. In the case of water, there are many powerful interests behind it. Do you believe there is political will to change it?

A. The mining law was changed when we thought: “Wow, this will never happen because of the money that mining corporations have.” I believe the movement is still present. The people leading Conagua might be more honest than the previous ones, but there are many mafias in the territory regarding water control.