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On a knife edge: why Mexico’s new President faces significant challenges to her energy transition plans
30/7/2025
10 min read
Feature
Mexico’s new President Claudia Sheinbaum is certainly well-qualified to reform her country’s energy system. But her ambitious plans may be curtailed by political expediency. Ángela Martínez reports from Mexico City.
They say knowledge is power. Sheinbaum holds a PhD and Master’s degree in energy engineering, plus a BA in physics. Furthermore, she is passionate about the energy transition, having worked in scientific research on the mitigation of climate change. But she now faces challenges from political opponents and industry bodies which are concerned about taking further investment risks in a volatile financial environment.
The National Autonomous University of Mexico (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México – UNAM) graduate is targeting a significant expansion of clean energy. However, her planned reforms will keep the country’s publicly owned companies in control, while giving limited participation to private entities, potentially undermining past successes in lowering greenhouse gas emissions, experts warn.
Such a state-focused strategy is perhaps not a surprise, as Sheinbaum, 63, started her political career in 1989, in the then left-wing Party of the Democratic Revolution (Partido de la Revolución Democrática – PRD).