2 December 2013
Mexico Launches Voluntary Carbon Credit Exchange
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Mexico launched a voluntary carbon credit exchange with assistance from the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the UK Government.

mexlogo26 November 2013: Mexico has launched a voluntary carbon credit exchange with assistance from the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the UK Government.

The launch of Mexico’s Carbon Platform, or MEXICO2, took place on 26 November 2013, at the Mexican Stock Exchange (BMV) in Mexico City, Mexico.

MEXICO2 will provide carbon credits to the market that have been certified by internationally recognized methodologies and protocols, such as the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change’s Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS), the Gold Standard (GS), Plan Vivo and California’s Climate Action Reserve (CAR). Mexican officials expect the platform’s operations to be facilitated by the carbon taxes imposed on Mexican companies as a result of the recently passed Revenue Act of 2014, since companies can offset the tax by buying carbon credits. They also expect MEXICO2 to make a major contribution to achieving the goals in the 2012 General Law on Climate Change, which calls for cutting greenhouse gases 30% by 2030 and 50% by 2050.

MEXICO2 was created by SIF-ICP, a joint venture between BMV and the British-based trader ICAP, with support from UNEP, the UK Embassy to Mexico, and Mexico’s Environment Secretariat (SEMARNAT), the National Institute on Ecology and Climate Change (INECC), and the National Forestry Commission (CONAFOR). MEXICO2 will operate as an autonomous subsidiary of BMV, guided by a Technical Committee composed of the institutions that helped create it. [UNEP Press Release (in Spanish)] [MEXICO2 Website]

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