Mexico Sees Water as a National Security Issue OOSKAnews
go to original July 25, 2012

MEXICO CITY — Water is a national security issue for Mexico, Mexican Minister of Foreign Affairs Rodolfo Godínez Rosales told the UN’s first technical workshop on water, the impacts of climate change and adaptation strategies in Mexico City last week.

“Water in Mexico represents a subject of national security, not only because of its unequal distribution in the country, but because its shortage or abundance represents risk to the wellbeing of the population,” he said.

Godínez Rosales said guidelines need to be developed for future work in the areas of water and climate change.

The July 19 meeting was also attended by National Water Commission (Conagua) Head José Luis Luege Tamargo, Richard Muyungi, Chair of the United Nations Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice, and representatives of more than 25 countries. It was organized by the United Nation’s Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

Luege Tamargo also addressed water as a national security issue for Mexico. He said that he hoped the meeting would help build a common understanding of the subject, in preparation for the climate change  "Conference of the Parties" in Doha in November 2012.

Conagua also called on the nations participating in the meeting to include land use programs in their adaptation strategies.

Julia Martinez, coordinator of the Climate Change Program at the National Institute of Ecology, said that her organization estimated that the costs of dealing with climate change-related natural disasters will reach 10 percent of Mexico’s GDP.

"Our studies tell us that by 2025, two-thirds of the population of this planet will live in water stress, so we must prepare for this," said Dolores Barnett, representative for the United Nations Environment Program.

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