Time to Change Mexico’s Financial Education

Today, Mexican families have become accustomed to unnecessary excess payments that could be considered a waste of money and contribute to pollution, argues BBVA Research. A change in financial behavior that leads to savings and reducing expenses, would lead to an efficient use of money and help to fight climate change. 

A financial education syllabi that combines climate change awareness with simple savings terms would benefit not only individuals but society as a whole, says a recent report from BBVA Research. “Today, there is more and more certainty that there is an increase in the average temperature on the planet’s surface caused by the activity of human beings. This warming is likely to reach 1.5°C (with scenarios down to 2°C) between 2030 and 2052 if it continues to increase at the current rate. In 2019, INEGI estimated that the expenses that society would have to incur to prevent or remedy the decline and loss of natural resources and the deterioration of the environment were 4.5 percent of GDP.”

Homes contribute to climate change in numerous ways. For example, the electricity used is generated in electric plants that emit greenhouse gases. This way, an individual house could emit 1.75 tons of carbon dioxide per year. Many houses in Mexico still use natural gas for cooking and heating water. According to the report, a daily shower uses an average of 65 L of hot water, emitting about 233 kg of CO2, besides the waste of water that is commonly not reused for other cleaning tasks. Moreover, through these activities families make “unnecessary excess payments,” in which they not only waste money but pollution the environment. The accumulated damage could be enormous. “According to the 2020 Population and Housing Census, Mexico has 35.2 million homes, of which more than 95 percent have electricity and water services, 82 percent use gas for cooking and 46 percent have their own car.”

Climate change is one of the main challenges Mexico’s federal, state and municipal governments are facing. But it is also challenging the business sector, which is implementing conservation and restoration measures for ecosystems to reduce the possible negative impacts of climate change. To do so, companies are scaling local experiences and consulting local communities and populations at the country’s tourist sites, as stated by the National Institute of Ecology and Climate Change.