Mexico

I have just returned from a ten day work trip to Mexico. What a place. 24 million people living in its capital city (that's almost 5 times the population of Denmark) and so much history that Britain looks like the new kid on the block. Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to explore the country outside the capital but, with visits to some of Mexico's stunning museums and contact with the legislators in Congress, I was left with a very positive impression of the country, its people and its very promising future.

Some facts about Mexico:

- 12th largest economy in the world
- population 109 million (24 million of which live in the capital, Mexico City)
- Mexico City lies at an altitude of 2,250m above sea level
- human activity dates back to at least 21,000 BC
- the Aztec civilisations were invaded by Spain in 1591 and Mexico became the largest and most populous Spanish colony

So, far from being just the land of tequila, sombreros and ponchos, this is a land of culture, history and economic muscle.

My work took me to the Mexican Congress - the Chamber of Deputies - where we held a meeting on climate change for legislators from the Americas - North and South America plus the Caribbean. The result was a consensus declaration calling on industrialised countries to cut their emissions by 60-80 per cent from 1990 levels by 2050 and calling on the most advanced developing countries (Brazil, China, India, Mexico and South Africa) to take on binding commitments by 2020. This is a significant advance ahead of the latest round of UN negotiations that take place in Poznan, Poland from 1-12 December 2008 and demonstrates that there is cross-party support in the parliaments of these countries for more ambitious action.

The people we worked with were some of the warmest I have met and I came away with a genuine warmth for the country and a reassurance that the region sees climate change as the most serious issue facing humanity in the 21st century and, beyond that, is already doing a significant amount to mitigate its effects and adapt to the impacts. From Brazilian ethanol to Argentinian water management expertise and Costa Rican work on rewarding forest conservation through payment for "ecosystem services", there is much that we can all learn from this diverse region.