Mexico’s efforts to develop and implement environmental policy face two critical challenges: (a) underlying but predictable difficulties in defining the concept of sustainable development and (b) fundamental organizational difficulties associated with public management reform within the responsible agency, the Ministry of Environment, Natural Resources, and Fisheries of Mexico (SEMARNAP). This article examines these difficulties conceptually, traces their operational impact within SEMARNAP, and offers some recommendations intended to increase the effectiveness of Mexican environmental policy.
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