News

Mexico tightens environmental corporate crimes

05 December 2025

Tranquil meditative scenery of glacial lake with pointy fir tops reflection and forest hill in thick low clouds. Graphic EQ of spruce tops on alpine lake in dense fog. Mountain lake at early morning.

Key takeaways

Mexico’s Justice Committee from the Chamber of Deputies approved a bill proposing comprehensive amendments to the Federal Criminal Code’s environmental crimes chapter.

The bill increases prison terms, expands aggravating factors, and extends corporate criminal liability to all environmental offenses.

It introduces new crimes, including greenwashing, falsification by environmental auditors, and the breach of corrective or technical orders.

Prosecutors will be required to investigate organizational due control, significantly increasing exposure for companies and management teams.

On November 25, 2025, the Justice Committee of the Mexican Chamber of Deputies published the Committee Report with Draft Decree to Amend Various Provisions of the Federal Criminal Code Regarding Crimes Against the Environment and Environmental Management. This document constitutes a committee-approved bill, still pending discussion and vote before the full Chamber and the Senate.

The bill proposes new offenses, strengthening penalties, and expanding criminal liability to legal entities.

Expanded corporate criminal liability

The bill incorporates all environmental crimes into the catalog of offenses under Article 11 Bis for which legal entities may be held criminally liable. This would allow the imposition of sanctions and security measures, under the National Code of Criminal Procedure, on companies in connection with any environmental offense.

The bill also requires prosecutors to investigate failures in organizational due control, creating a clear expectation that companies implement robust environmental and criminal compliance systems.

Additionally, several conduct-related offenses commonly arising during inspections—such as disobedience, resistance, and breach of seals—would now be recognized as crimes that may trigger corporate liability.

General increase in penalties

The Committee proposes raising the minimum and maximum prison terms for most environmental crimes. Current ranges of 1 to 9 years would increase to 2 to 10 years, covering, among others: illegal handling of hazardous wastes, unauthorized changes in forest land use, water pollution, unlawful extraction or commercialization of wildlife, and the execution of dangerous activities without proper safeguards.

The Committee considers this increase consistent with the constitutional principle of proportionality and aligned with international and domestic trends toward stricter environmental criminal enforcement.

New environmental offenses: greenwashing, falsification, and carbon-market misconduct

A key feature of the bill is the creation of new criminal offenses with direct corporate implications, including:

Falsification or misrepresentation by environmental auditors or court-appointed experts.
Intentional non-compliance with technical or corrective orders issued by authorities.
Greenwashing, defined as providing false or simulated information on environmental or sustainability performance for benefit or profit.
Manipulation or simulation within greenhouse gas emissions trading systems.

These new offenses may impact companies that issue ESG disclosures, rely on external consultants or auditors, or participate in emerging carbon-market mechanisms.

Tougher sanctions for disobedience and breach of seals

The bill also strengthens sanctions for offenses that obstruct administrative or environmental enforcement, particularly breach of seals (including continuing operations despite closure orders even if seals remain physically intact) and disobedience toward regulatory authorities. This reflects an effort to harmonize federal law with state criminal codes, most of which already impose imprisonment for these behaviors.

These changes are particularly relevant for companies subject to inspections and compliance actions by PROFEPA, CONAGUA, ASEA, SEMARNAT, and state or municipal authorities.

Authored by Mauricio Llamas, Mauricio Villegas, and Sofia de Llano.

Next steps

Given the bill's potential impact, companies should consider:

a. Updating environmental and criminal compliance programs to incorporate new offenses, aggravating factors, and organizational-control expectations.

b. Strengthening internal controls and ESG governance, ensuring the accuracy, traceability, and integrity of environmental and sustainability disclosures.

c. Reviewing contracts with environmental auditors, consultants, and experts, adding enhanced obligations on independence, accuracy, and professional responsibility.

d. Implementing or refining inspection and closure-order protocols, given the increased exposure associated with resistance to authorities or breach of seals.