LatinNews Daily - 19 June 2024

*Mexican think tank Centro de Investigación Económica y Presupuestaria (Ciep), has stated that the change of government in Mexico offers an opportunity to accelerate the energy transition. Speaking in a press conference, Ciep’s executive director, Alejandra Macías, stated that: “We are in a moment of many changes and a lot of uncertainty, it is a moment in which decisions are being made about the direction of the next few years and it is the moment to evaluate what worked and what requires urgent, important changes with regards to public policy and public finances.” In particular, Macías highlighted the energy transition as an issue that will have “a strong impact on sustainability and equality”. Macías was speaking at a presentation of Ciep’s new report, ‘Energía y finanzas públicas. Hacia una transición justa’ (Energy and public finances. Towards a fair transition). During the presentation, Ciep researcher Ricardo Cantú Calderón explained that the energy transition was important given the energy sector presented great opportunity for investment, as well as for society and the fiscal system. Cantú highlighted that in recent years, the government had focused on producing energy using fossil fuels, mainly through state-run oil company Pemex, leading to a decline in energy generated by renewable sources. “This represents not an advance but a regression,” he said, stressing the potential that existed in Mexico for wind and solar power. An energy engineer by training, it is widely expected that President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum will shift to more renewable energy production, although she has not yet outlined concrete energy policy proposals.