Mexico City’s First Agenda 2030 Council Debuts in Cuauhtemoc

The Mexico City borough of Cuauhtemoc has established the city’s first Agenda 2030 Council, a multi-sector body designed to coordinate actions aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals  (SDGs). Mayor Alessandra Rojo de la Vega led the installation and swearing-in ceremony, noting that the council will focus on measurable improvements across the borough’s 33 neighborhoods.

Rojo de la Vega highlighted five priority challenges: limited green areas, aging hydraulic infrastructure, recurring floods, social inequality, and climate impacts in areas with scarce shade and insufficient public services. She said these issues require collaboration among civil society, the private sector, academia and government agencies. “The COA 2030 will be a space for action, not a formality,” she said. “Sustainability without social justice does not exist, and climate action without human rights does not either. Our commitment is to build solutions that can be felt in the streets.”

With the initiative, Cuauhtemoc became the first borough in the capital to formalize a governance structure dedicated to tracking and implementing local SDG commitments. The administration said the council will focus on practical, everyday issues such as water access, mobility, safety, pollution, infrastructure and climate resilience.

The council includes the borough mayor, general and executive directors, three members of the borough council, representatives from civil society, academia and the private sector, and one representative from the COPACO for each territorial coordination. Officials said this composition allows decisions based on neighborhood-level needs rather than administrative assumptions.

The council will evaluate local public policies, propose priority projects and oversee environmental, social and infrastructure actions across the borough. It will also promote environmental education and establish work committees for cross-sector coordination. According to the borough government, the council will begin operating immediately, with initial diagnostics and project proposals expected to focus on water management, shaded public spaces and flood mitigation.

While Cuautemoc is the first borough to track Agenda 2030 progress, other boroughs are leading their own sustainability initiatives. In September, the borough of Alvaro Óbregon signed an agreement with the Federal Attorney for Environmental Protection (PROFEPA) to join the National Environmental Audit Program (PNAA), becoming the first municipality to do so in more than a decade. By joining the PNAA, Álvaro Obregón will undergo a full audit of its 69 municipal facilities, aiming to ensure that public services are delivered in a sustainable and environmentally responsible manner.

PROFEPA’s evaluation will cover water use and conservation, energy efficiency, solid waste management, noise control, and environmental risk prevention, based on requirements established in Mexico’s General Law of Ecological Balance and Environmental Protection. As part of the process, the borough will also pursue carbon footprint certification and adopt the ISO 14001:2015 standard for environmental management systems.