Mexican President Felipe Calderón Hinojosa on Sunday formally opened events at the Green Solutions exhibition, a four-day convention that will showcase entrepreneurial projects in climate change mitigation that focus on trade, investment and technology development.

During his address at the Hotel Fiesta Americana Grand Coral Beach in Cancun, the president gave the example of a Mexican tortilla shop to demonstrate how sustainable development goes hand in hand with economic growth. A tortilla maker uses gas-powered machines to grind corn into dough and flatten the mix into tortillas. By powering the equipment with solar panels, however, the vendor spends less money on gas – lowering the cost for consumers – and consumes fewer fossil fuels – lowering greenhouse gas emissions.

“Climate change (initiatives) are profitable, they are economically viable,” he said. “We have to bring new technologies to consumers, to other producers, and to the same public officials who put these policies into effect.”

The president added that sustainable development is “exactly that which expands people’s abilities and freedoms, but without putting future generations at risk. Sustainable development is that where we can have both economic growth and combat poverty and, at the same time, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and confront climate change.”

Keywords
Mexican president, Felipe Calderon, Felipe Calderón Hinojosa, Green Solutions, climate change, mitigation, technology development, Hotel Fiesta Americana Grand Coral Beach, Cancun, tortilla, sustainable development, economic growth, solar panels