ORIGINAL PAPER Use of IPCC GHG key sources analysis to Mexico’s environmental policy Xochitl Cruz-Nu ´n ˜ez Æ Luis Conde Æ Luis G. Ruiz-Sua ´rez Received: 24 September 2006 / Accepted: 5 February 2007 / Published online: 27 April 2007 Ó Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2007 Abstract Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Tier 1 key sources level 1 assessment was applied to the 1994–1994 National Greenhouse Gases (GHG) emission inventory for Mexico in order to identify and analyze the key sources within it. Top key sources were from land use change and energy combustion contributing to about 60% of total national emissions. In addition, a Tier 1 trend assessment revealed some changes with respect to Tier 1 level assessment: Top key sources according to this analysis are waste disposal and delayed emissions from land clearing. Important insight for cost effective preventive mitigation actions can be extracted from this analysis. A comparison with other countries was carried out to find similarities in the GHG national emissions inventories related to common features on economic development. Keywords Key sources  GHG  IPCC  Environmental policy  Mexico 1 Introduction Building on the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC), which encouraged emissions reductions but provided no binding commitments, the 1997 Kyoto Protocol to that convention sets greenhouse gas emissions limits for developed countries and countries in transition from ordered economies listed in Annex 1 to the protocol. It also established the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) to allow X. Cruz-Nu ´n ˜ez  L. G. Ruiz-Sua ´rez (&) Centro de Ciencias de la Atmo ´sfera, Universidad Nacional Auto ´noma de Me ´xico, Circuito de la Investigacio ´n Cientı ´fica s/n, Ciudad Universitaria, Me ´xico, DF 04510, Me ´xico e-mail: ruizs@servidor.unam.mx L. Conde Direccio ´ n de Cambio Clima ´tico, Instituto Nacional de Ecologı ´a, Perife ´rico Sur 5000 5o. Piso Cuicuilco Insurgentes, Me ´xico, DF 04510, Me ´xico 123 Mitig Adapt Strat Glob Change (2008) 13:179–191 DOI 10.1007/s11027-007-9085-6