The border between Mexico and the United States is much more than a 3,142 km long border area that marks the territorial jurisdiction of both countries. The institution I represent has allowed me to testify that this dividing line is actually a unique and exceptional binational region that, with nearly 26 million inhabitants, experiences intense social, cultural and commercial integration every day. Every day people cross the border several times to work, go to school or shop. The border is part of the landscape.
Trade integration is a hallmark of this border. In 2020 alone, Mexico and the United States exchanged goods and services for more than a million dollars every minute. More than 300,000 vehicles a day pass through its multiple border crossings and about 7 million cargo trucks cross, on average, during a year. In fact, around 80% of bilateral trade is due to the exchange that takes place, by land, on this border.
In 2021, the border economy grew 6.5% on the Mexican side and 5.3% on the US side. That same year, the border crossing of private vehicles and trucks increased by 16% and 9%, respectively, compared to 2020.
Industrial parks and sophisticated international logistics networks are now essential activities that trigger and maintain the economic and commercial dynamism of the region. Today, for example, there are approximately 350 industrial parks in the Mexican border states.
In addition to the strong economic, commercial and cultural link, there is one more that is essential for life itself: the ecosystem.
Indeed, the region shares the same ecosystem and, therefore, maintains a very close environmental relationship, in such a way that a problem of water supply or air pollution, to name a few examples, would affect the population on both sides. of the border. It is interesting how the Colorado River, which rises and crosses various states of the American Union, provides water to Baja California, and vice versa; the Conchos River, which rises in Chihuahua, feeds the Texas Valley with water. That’s how close and interconnected coexistence is.
Therefore, any solution to environmental problems will be more effective if it emerges from coordination between the authorities and communities of both countries. Finding these solutions is not a minor challenge, for two main reasons: the first, due to the rapid and continuous economic and demographic growth of the border, which is greater than the national growth of both countries and, the second, due to a greater and more constant presence of extreme weather events as a result of climate change.
This is where green infrastructure projects or projects with a positive environmental impact have become crucial as they are part of the solution and guarantee a better quality of life for the inhabitants of this region. Projects such as water treatment plants, sanitary landfills, clean energy storage, sustainable food value chains, among many others, could help mitigate and adapt to the effects of climate change.
To deal with this situation, there are institutions such as NADBank that have the capacity to operate and dialogue on both sides of the border and that are allies of the public sector and businessmen to finance and trigger green infrastructure projects that, on the one hand, they directly benefit the border community, and on the other hand, they promote the competitiveness and sustainability of a key region for both countries.
In future collaborations we will talk about specific topics of the border and the environment.
*The author is CEO of the North American Development Bank (NADBank).
