Summary
On 18 July 2024, Mexico City enacted a new Environmental Law of Mexico City (Ley Ambiental de la Ciudad de México) that explicitly recognizes the environment as a collective entity with its own rights and places ecological balance and public health at the center of urban policy. The objective of the new law is to implement provisions contained in the new Constitution of the Mexico City Federal District that was adopted in 2017, which recognizes the rights of nature and mandates secondary legislation to protect nature as a collective entity composed of ecosystems and species.
Legal Background
The 2024 law replaces the earlier Environmental Law for the Protection of the Land in the Federal District, which had regulated the city’s environmental governance since 2000. The former law focused primarily on land conservation, pollution control, and the management of natural resources within the urban territory, but it did not incorporate the constitutional recognition of nature as a rights-bearing entity adopted in 2017. The 2024 law builds directly on the legislative framework created by the 2013 reform of the Environmental Law for the Protection of the Land in the Mexico City (Ley Ambiental de Protección a la Tierra), but replaces that earlier statute and restructures the regulatory framework to align with the 2017 Constitution of Mexico City, which explicitly requires secondary legislation recognizing ecosystems and species as collective entities entitled to protection. Environmental Law for the Protection of the Land in Mexico City is repealed
Legal Provisions
The legislation establishes the legal basis for environmental policy, ecological planning, biodiversity protection, and environmental management within the city’s jurisdiction, and codifies the constitutional requirement that city authorities must guarantee the preservation, protection, and restoration of ecological systems and recognize the rights of ecosystems, communities and individuals to a healthy environment.
Article 1. “This Law regulates the provisions contained in Section A of Article 13 and Section A of Article 16 of the Political Constitution of Mexico City, which refer to the right to a healthy environment. Its provisions are of public order and social interest and aim to recognize and regulate the broadest protection of the rights of nature, comprised of all its ecosystems and species, as a collective entity subject to rights, as well as:”
I. To dictate and exercise local environmental public policy in Mexico City;
III. To guarantee the maintenance and recovery of the functionality of natural ecosystems, as well as the conservation, sustainable management and valuation of biodiversity and environmental services, their protection and preservation, as fundamental factors for the sustainable development of Mexico City and the well-being of its inhabitants;
VI. To prevent, and where appropriate, mitigate and reverse damage to the environment, as well as to conserve and restore the ecological balance;
XIV. The promotion of rural development, agricultural, agro-industrial, forestry, aquaculture and artisanal production, alternative tourism projects in support of agrarian communities and small rural properties, under approaches of sustainability and biodiversity conservation for the responsible use of natural resources and the preservation of conservation land;
XVI. To contribute to the fulfillment of international commitments and national goals regarding the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, climate change and sustainable development.
Article 2. outlines commitments on wetland preservation, sustainable water use, and water treatment and distribution. The law also introduces a consolidated reporting instrument known as the Manifestación Ambiental Única, requiring regulated facilities to submit integrated environmental compliance information related to emissions, water use, wastewater discharges, and waste management. Additional provisions require consultation with affected communities for certain development projects and establish rules for ecological compensation when construction affects urban green spaces.
Ecological Context
Mexico city is the largest city in North America, home to 21 million people, and sits in a high altitude valley of 2,240 meters (7,350 feet) that was once the lake bed of Lake Texcoco, a system of interconnected salt and freshwater lakes. Lake Texcoco was drained in the 17th century. Drainage of the lake has led to severe ecological and human consequences: the over-extraction of groundwater means the soft land base under much of the city is collapsing; the city is highly vulnerable to water shortage, as well as flooding due to groundwater extraction; native species endemic to the lake region, such as the axolotl, have become severely endangered or extinct due to ecosystem change.
Related Initiatives
Suggested Citation:
Kauffman, Craig, Catherine Haas, Alex Putzer, Shrishtee Bajpai, Kelsey Leonard, Elizabeth Macpherson, Pamela Martin, Alessandro Pelizzon & Linda Sheehan. Eco Jurisprudence Monitor. V2. 2025. Distributed by the Eco Jurisprudence Monitor.https://ecojurisprudence.org/initiatives/mexico-city-environmental-law-2024-legislative-provisions-for-the-constitutional-rights-of-nature/.
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