In the late nineteenth century, the first signs of a climate change were present in the environment. It was not until the end of the 1950s that countries and organizations started thinking about its causes and effects. The first conference about the world’s climate was held in Geneva, Switzerland on February 1979, where the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) gathered specialists who expressed their concerns about weather conditions and global warming due to anthropogenic causes.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is the leading international body for the assessment of climate change. It was established in 1988 by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the WMO to give a clear scientific view on climate change and its potential consequences.
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change entered into force on March 21st, 1994 in order to fight global warming. Consequently, the Kyoto Protocol entered into force on February 16st, 2005, in which 37 developed countries commit to reduce their GHG emissions according to medium-term goals.
In 2007, Mexico envisioned the National Strategy on Climate Change, an environmental policy to mitigate the effects of climate change and transition toward a sustainable economy with low carbon emissions in the medium to long term. The creation of the Climate Change Policy Law in October 2012 enabled the official establishment of the National Strategy on Climate Change: 10-20-40 Vision. The strategy states that during the following 40 years Mexico must preserve the environment. Therefore, it is based on scientific facts and sets specific goals that go beyond greenhouse gases, such as better public health and life quality.
In this regard, Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo Leon adopted in 2010 a new environmental policy to reduce the emissions from its daily activities. With this, UANL is committed to preserve its natural capital, develop clean energy technologies, eliminate energy inefficiency, promote sustainable territorial development, increase competitiveness, and accomplish its social responsibility to meet the community’s needs in a timely, effective, and ethical manner.
The agenda that arises from the implementation of this policy includes promoting climate education, establishing measuring, reporting, and verification techniques, taking monitoring and evaluation actions, and preserving and extending the university’s green areas so that its daily activities are done in sustainable spaces, according to the WHO’s international standards. It is also important to comply with the current regulations on environmental protection.
