ABOUT OUR CENTER

Environment and Sustainable Development Initiatives

"Corporate Voluntary Environmental Initiatives in Mexico: Creating an Institutional and Organizational Context"

Co-Sponsors:
Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies
Graduate School of International Relations and Pacific Studies, UCSD

Powerpoint

Presentation:
Dr. Verónica Medina-Ross spoke to students and faculty at UCSD on November 4, 2003 in a brownbag lunch presentation on International Environmental Policy co-sponsored by the Graduate School of International Relations & Pacific Studies (IRPS) and the Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies.

Her presentation, entitled "Corporate Voluntary Environmental Initiatives in Mexico: Creating an Institutional and Organizational Context", examined the role of regulatory agencies in bringing about voluntary environmental initiatives (VEI's) in Mexico. Since the early 1990s, Mexico has engaged in a wide range of structural reforms to its economy, and the resulting changes have provided the context for the current profound reforms in the country's environmental regulation policies and environmental management. It is within this economic and political context that Mexico has been witnessing an increasing number of firms from various sectors who are adopting and implementing VEI.

Drawing on her research conducted from 1998-2002, Dr. Medina-Ross compared the implementation practices of Mexican and multinational chemical companies to illustrate how both the Mexican environmental regulatory framework and stakeholder involvement were two key elements in promoting the implementation of VEI's. Her research was based on interviews, participant observation, and documentary analysis of 17 chemical firms (9 multinational and 8 Mexican), as well as interviews with local and federal environmental agencies, industrial associations and non-governmental institutions. She concluded her presentation with a discussion of the challenges which remain for a continued move toward sustainability.

Dr. Medina-Ross holds a Ph.D. in Environmental Sciences from the University of East Anglia and an M.Sc. in Integrated Environmental Studies from the University of Southampton. Before pursuing her doctoral degree, Dr. Medina-Ross was involved in the first Environmental Performance Review of Mexico, conducted under the auspices of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) through her position at the Secretaría de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales (SEMARNAT).

Copyright © 2002, Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.