Mexico City, Mexico 2009
Theme: Your Planet Needs You – UNite to Combat Climate Change
In 2009, Mexico City hosted World Environment Day focusing on the urgency for nations to agree a new deal to back up the preliminary discussions from the Earth Summit in Rio which led to the initial agreements in Kyoto in 1997. More than a decade later, little had been done to progress with fuirther agreements, and World Environment Day provided an opportunity to prepare for the climate convention meeting to be held in Copenhagen (COP15) later in the year.
Mexico was the leading contributor to the UN’s plant a billion trees campaign, having committed to plant more than a quarter of the total target. With its huge population, Mexico City was seen as offering leadership in uniting different views and needs.
A Brief Look at Mexico City
Mexico is the third largest Latin American country, lying to the south of the USA. As part of the Pacific “Rim of Fire” it has several active volcanoes and experiences frequent earthquakes leading to much of the rugged landscape. More than half of the population live in the central plateau region, the north and south of the country being less hospitable. Four-fifths of the population live in urban areas leaving the rural areas very sparsely populated. Mexican society has wide extremes of wealth, from very rich elite landowners and investors to the very poor in rural and urban areas.
Very few people fall in the middle classes. It has a strong industrial economy and good natural resources making it an important part of the Latin American economy. There is some much publicised tensions at the border with the USA but many people cross the border daily as they work in the USA but live in Mexico.
Today, Mexico City has a population of nearly 22m. Numbers have grown with the influx of immigrants from many different countries. From the early 14th century the Aztecs settled here and built a city of such beauty and orderliness that the Spanish invaders were so impressed they compared it to the best cities in Europe. However this did not stop them destroying much of the city and constructing their own in the same place. Through the ages people were drawn to the city, first from the surrounding countryside and then from other countries. More recently, people from richer countries such as USA and Canada have settled to enjoy the climate and the economy, while those from poorer or less stable countries come to find work and hope for a safer lifestyle.
Find Out More
The Executive director of the UN Environment Programme, Achim Steiner, commended Mexico, as he announced their selection as host for the 2009 World Envirnment Day, by noting “Mexico is also emerging as one among a group of developing economies who are bringing much needed leadership to the need for a new, comprehensive and decisive climate treaty”.
See more on the announcement here.
Ideas for further Study.
- Why is this theme important to the host city/country?
- Why is the theme important in averting the climate crisis and supporting environmental sustainability?
- How did they raise awareness of its importance?
- What actions arose from this? Is the world in a better place because of it?
- What more might they have done with today’s knowledge?