Environment and Development in Mexico

"...the most readable, comprehensive, and well-informed acccount of how a key developing country, Mexico, built and upgraded its environmental institutions and policies and the positive influences in this process of economic integration with the United States via NAFTA. There are plenty of lessons in the book for the environmental, trade, and development policy communities."--Jose M. Salazar-Xirinachs, Chief Trade Adviser, Organization of American States

Throughout the 1990s the Mexican government substantially reinforced its environmental regulations and, with the help of other nations and international institutions, developed programs and techniques to address the nation's environmental challenges. But the policy gains of the 1990s have not been in effect long enough to compensate for environmental deterioration that occurred over decades of rapid industrialization. Mexico faces serious challenges in water supply and contamination, deforestation, and desertification. This book dispassionately examines the continuing natural resource problems that threaten to undermine Mexico's future economic development and offers recommendations for reversing those resource trends.

Jan Gilbreath, a senior associate with the CSIS Americas Program, specializes in environmental policy issues facing developing countries.