Synopsis

This background paper addresses the question, "How has financial globalization directly and indirectly changed the context for influencing the environmental character of Mexico's development?"

Executive Summary

The purpose of this paper is to answer the question: How has financial globalization (including recent changes in the magnitude and composition of financial flows to Mexico, as well as resulting changes in the roles and importance of various public and private sector institutions) directly and indirectly changed the context for influencing the environmental character of Mexico's development?

Specifically, the author was asked:

  • to identify and describe briefly the most significant changes in international financial flows affecting Mexico, with emphasis on changes since 1990;
  • to identify and describe two or three recent events or trends that illuminate the significance of those changes for the environmental sustainabililty of Mexico's economic development path, and the changing political or institutional context for influencing that path; and
  • to analyze the significance of those events or trends for a variety environmental, political, and institutional changes, and their implicactions for the advocacy targets, levels, and strategies of domestic and international public interest groups.