Water authority to fund conservation work in Mexico

8/18/2017 Las Vegas Review-Journal 

The Southern Nevada Water Authority plans to spend up to $7.5 million in Mexico over the next 10 years in exchange for more Colorado River water.

Authority board members unanimously approved the payments Thursday as they gave their blessing to a sweeping water-sharing agreement the U.S. and Mexico are expected to sign next month.

The new pact, known as Minute 323 to the Mexican Water Treaty of 1944, spells out how much Mexico would have to reduce its river use during a shortage on the Colorado and how much extra water the nation would get in a surplus.

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Learning From The Experience Of NAFTA Labor And Environmental Governance

8/11/2017 Forbes

As negotiators from the United States, Mexico, and Canada prepare to begin talks on a renegotiated NAFTA agreement, this is an opportune moment to think about how to strengthen trilateral oversight in the important areas of labor and environmental policy. The Trump Administration published its negotiating objectives in July, and they included the aim to strengthen both labor and environmental oversight within NAFTA. Clear lessons can be drawn from the NAFTA experience about what worked and what did not, and how civil society participated and evolved.

NAFTA included two side agreements, one on the environment and one on labor. The purpose was to pressure all three member states to uphold their own laws in these areas. Mexico’s inclusion in NAFTA was the original rationale, but the requirements applied to all three countries. Non-compliance was not to be tolerated.

What happened next is very important. The side agreements created routes for civil society to complain about non-compliance, and therefore contribute to governance. Although many see the side agreements as worthless, they did have a significant impact on Mexican civil society, and to an extent, governance in Mexico too. The way this happened is less obvious and less understood than trade or investment-led change, but it is worth our attention. In fact, the impact of the labor and environmental side agreements differed, because their institutions and procedures differed – and therein lies an important lesson. Let’s look at both in turn.

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Franklin storm’s remains douse central Mexico with heavy rain

8/10/2017 Reuters

VERACRUZ, Mexico Aug 10 (Reuters) – Remnants of this year’s first Atlantic hurricane dumped rain over the eastern Gulf coast and central Mexico on Thursday, but officials said there were no reports of deaths or major damage.

Franklin landed in the early hours of Thursday as a Category 1 hurricane and later weakened into a tropical storm over the eastern coast of Mexico, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

Heavy rains fell over central Mexico, raising the risk of flash floods and mudslides in the mountainous terrain.

The state of Veracruz, a major oil producer and home to two important petroleum ports, showed few signs of damage following the passage of the storm. The Ciudad Madero refinery is across the state’s northern border, but it was on the periphery of the storm’s path.

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Franklin seen hitting Mexico as season’s first Atlantic hurricane

08/09/2017 Reuters

VERACRUZ, Mexico (Reuters) – Tropical storm Franklin is almost a hurricane, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said on Wednesday, and is set to crash into eastern Mexico’s key oil-producing Gulf state of Veracruz as the Atlantic’s first hurricane of 2017.

On Wednesday morning, the storm was located about 140 miles (225 km) north-northeast of the city of Coatzacoalcos, Mexico and was blowing maximum sustained winds of 70 mph (113 kph), the center said. The storm is moving west at 13 mph (21 kmh) and its center is expected to approach the coast of the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday.

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Tropical storm Franklin weakens over Yucatan peninsula: NHC

08/07/2017 Reuters

(Reuters) – Tropical storm Franklin was weakening on Tuesday over the Yucatan peninsula, the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.

The storm was located about 135 miles (220 km) east-southeast of Campeche, Mexico and was packing maximum sustained winds of 50 miles per hour (85 km/h), the NHC said.

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World Bank issues $360 million Mexico catastrophe bonds

08/04/2017 Reuters

NEW YORK, Aug 4 (Reuters) – The World Bank will issue $360 million in three-year catastrophe bonds on behalf of Mexico, the organization said on Friday, to be paid out in the event of hurricanes or earthquakes that devastate the country.

The bonds are part of World Bank’s capital-at-risk notes program, created in 2014, which World Bank officials say aims to transfer risks related to natural disasters from developing countries to capital markets. The bonds are designed to cover costs of immediate emergency relief functions.

If a natural disaster occurs, some or all of the bond proceeds will be made available to the Mexican Fund for Natural Disasters, or FONDEN, provided it meets criteria set forth by the U.S. Geological Society or U.S. National Hurricane Center.

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Mexican oil regulator approves force majeure for Renaissance field

07/13/2017 Reuters

MEXICO CITY, July 13 (Reuters) – Mexico’s oil regulator approved on Thursday a force majeure request from Canada’s Renaissance Oil Corp that will allow the firm to suspend operations at its onshore Ponton area while a dispute over environmental damages at the site plays out.

Renaissance has claimed that environmental damages that pre-date its operations at Ponton have impeded its development plans.

Renaissance won development rights for the Ponton block at auction last year.

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