Remarks by Ambassador Esteban Moctezuma at NADBank Border Environmental Forum XXVI
August 24, 2022
Joseph Henrich, professor of Human Evolutionary Biology at Harvard, has devoted a lot of his work to understanding how culture drives human evolution.
He writes that our human skills to share practices, values and learn from others, are the basis of our success as a species.
I want you to think about this for a minute because it means not only that we are better together when we cooperate, but that this is the only way to succeed: our natural impulse is also our biggest strength.
This knowledge is fundamental in these critical times and calls for collective decisive measures and actions.
Rapid changes in economic and sociopolitical landscapes are creating crucial decision-making points for our North American societies.
The US-Mexico border is a constant reminder of our need to cooperate and it’s a living lab for discovery in areas critical to both our nations.
Contemporary narratives and media headlines are drawn, time and time again, to talk about the border in very simplistic ways.
Ordinary Americans hear single stories about the border that often fail to capture its complexities and its opportunities.
Yes, the border is a customs and immigration checkpoint, but you all know it is way more than that. The border is not a picture, but a motion landscape.
The border is a site of transborder trade, home to binational, bicultural and bilingual communities, and also a symbol of our economic stature as a region.
We share one of the largest and busiest borders in the world.
Both countries manage and operate 56 ports of entry that handle 87% of our bilateral trade, which is equivalent to 1 million dollars every minute.
Furthermore, one and a half million people, 425,000 vehicles and 30,000 trucks cross the land border every single day.
As we celebrate the Bicentennial of our diplomatic relations, there are lessons of the past that can guide us into the future.
50 years ago, in the summer of 1962, President Kennedy visited Mexico to showcase his new focus on Latin America at the highest point of the Cold War.
At the National Palace luncheon, President Kennedy noted that:
“As cotenants of the same great continent, we cannot meet our mutual needs in disarray, but working together we can face the future with confidence for there is much to be done in that future.”
Today, President Kennedy’s words echo in our present as the U.S.-Mexico border faces a wide array of challenges and opportunities related to infrastructure, environment, productivity and the movement of goods and people.
Infrastructure.
When we improve land border infrastructure, we increase the economic competitiveness in North America.
That is why President Andres Manuel López Obrador announced a historic investment of $1.5 billion on border infrastructure between 2022 and 2024 on his most recent visit to the White House.
Mexico and the U.S. are working together on the implementation of 20 key infrastructure projects.
One of our binational flagship projects is “Otay Mesa East-Mesa de Otay II”, for 2024.
It will become the most modern and innovative crossing on the U.S.-Mexico border. Its goal is to reduce a 2-hour crossing time to just 20 minutes.
Another notable example, the Laredo 4-5 project, seeks to build a new International Bridge in the Laredos region to facilitate commercial flows.
The Laredo 4-5 project is a result of the High-Level Economic Dialogue. This is paradigmatic of how institutionalized dialogue can turn into real actions.
Both projects contemplate the use of technology to stop gun trafficking into Mexico and drug trafficking into the U.S., trusted traveler programs, reversible lanes, and dynamic rates according to the crossings demand.
In parallel to these projects, both Governments are working to expand and modernize the Port of San Jeronimo- Santa Teresa in Chihuahua-Nuevo Mexico. The crossing is important for our agricultural trade, as it accounts for the import and export of live cattle between Mexico and the United States.
In 2021, San Jeronimo- Santa Teresa port recorded exports of $11.6 billion dollars and imports of $15.8 billion dollars.
Mexico and the U.S. are also working together to promote smart non-intrusive technology, and inspection equipment, such as the Unified Cargo Program (UCP), which reports a reduction in crossing times of more than 60% and reductions in operating costs of around 50%.
The Border, our border, is not only a historic circumstance but a historic opportunity.
Second, economic productivity and movement of goods and people.
The U.S.-Mexico border is a front-row witness to North American economic integration, first under NAFTA and now under the USMCA.
The busiest border crossing in the Western Hemisphere is in the Tijuana-San Diego region. The Chaparral-San Ysidro Port of Entry registers more than 30 million crossings per year.
Furthermore, the "World Trade International Bridge", located in the Laredos region, is the most important for our bilateral trade. Around 16 thousand commercial vehicles cross the bridge daily with an annual trade value of $230 million dollars.
Through active coordination of our economic policies, we will make our supply chains more resilient and expand production in North America.
Third and most urgent, sustainability
Cooperation and collaboration on the border must translate into a more sustainable border, with attainable and tangible environmental results.
The climate crisis is a matter of the present. Addressing these issues today is the most truthful way to approach the future. The call for effective responses cannot wait.
We are experiencing the driest 23-year period on record.
In 2000, Lakes Mead and Powell, the two huge man-made reservoirs along the Colorado, were 95 percent full.
By the end of this year, Lake Mead is projected to be 27 percent full, with the water level 45 feet below its 2020 level, while Lake Powell is forecast to close the year at 22 percent capacity with a deficit of 70 feet below the level presented two years ago.
To address the water shortage in the border region, the Mexican Section of the International Boundary and Water Commission, also known as CILA, is working closely with US federal agencies and local entities to coordinate delivery schedules, measure stream discharge, exchange data, and regulate deliveries.
A clear example of what we can achieve when we work together happened in San Diego just a week ago. The act for 16 new infrastructure projects for sanitation of the Tijuana River was signed. A clear proof that one of our highest priorities is a sustainable, reliable, and shared future.
Another instance is the Proactive Measures Group (PMG) to review critical Lake Mead thresholds and water supply impacts at various levels.
The PMG has identified water conservation projects in Mexico that could save up to 222 million cubic meters in 2022-2023, more than the water consumption of Mexicali in one year.
In terms of investment, Minute 323 promotes US-Mexico cooperation on the Colorado River through 2026. It provides 31.5 million dollars in water conservation projects in Mexico and requires water savings and reductions during low reservoir conditions such as the current drought.
These conservation projects generate a volume of water for the system to benefit all users, thus helping to mitigate shortage conditions.
It is also necessary to identify new water sources. Both countries are conducting a study to evaluate different projects in the Rio Bravo Basin that will allow the conservation of additional volumes of water to facilitate compliance with the Treaty.
To back up CILA´s efforts, we can begin a new dialogue with NADBank to think of new investment schemes that may allow water conservation projects to take place.
These critical times require governments to become more resilient. Adapting to the current conditions is not just an option, but a necessity.
It is important to remember what binds us together and the potential of working under a regional approach. As the African American writer, Lucille Clifton wrote: “We cannot create what we can’t imagine”.
If we want to reach a stronger, more inclusive and sustainable reality, we need to be able to imagine it. The recently adopted Inflation Reduction Act, for example, is a watershed moment for the sustainable future of the North American region.
The tax credit for electric vehicles manufactured in North America is a huge step in the creation of a strong, competitive and humane region. The first time that North America is included as a region.
In Mexico we are doing our homework.
At the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate (MEF), President López Obrador announced Mexico’s commitment to reach the goal of producing 50% zero-emission vehicles by 2030.
We want to work together as a region. This will allow us to generate the necessary incentives so that North American automotive companies that manufacture or assemble in Mexico begin to prioritize the production of hybrids and electric vehicles.
Dear friends:
We are on the edge of time. From this site, we have a clear view of what our next steps should be. We can create the future we believe in.
To achieve this, we have developed bilateral institutions such as NADBANK to help us acquire resources and expertise to address our most important challenges.
When President Kennedy visited Mexico 50 years ago he also talked about the power of a revolution.
“Not a revolution of force or fear,” he said.
“But a peaceful revolution which will demonstrate the creative capacity of democratic government to maintain a society where social justice and economic progress are servants of the dignity of man”.
These ideas are perhaps more valid than ever. It is within our grasp to achieve a better future if we continue working together, under a common regional vision.
If we want to build a more competitive, innovative, and humanitarian North American region, the starting point is the border. The time is now.