# Mexico National Emissions Registry (RENE)

Markdown version of https://bluegreenmaterials.com/en/mexico-national-emissions-registry-rene. Updated on 2026-11-12.

The RENE (Registro Nacional de Emisiones) is SEMARNAT's registry of greenhouse gases and compounds. You report if your facility is in one of the sectors listed in the regulation and its direct and indirect emissions add up to 25,000 tonnes of CO₂ equivalent or more a year. The report is filed in the Annual Operating Report (Cédula de Operación Anual, COA), from March 1 to June 30, and every 3 years it comes with a verification opinion.

> This page is general information, current as of its update date. It does not replace advice from a specialist for your facility's case. Mexican laws are cited by their Spanish names.

## What the RENE is

The General Law on Climate Change (Ley General de Cambio Climático), published on June 6, 2012, requires SEMARNAT, Mexico's environment ministry, to build the registry of emissions from fixed and mobile sources subject to reporting and to publish it in aggregate. It leaves to the regulation the task of identifying those sources by sector, subsector and activity, and of setting the gases, thresholds, calculation methodologies and the monitoring, reporting and verification system[^rene-lgcc].

That regulation was published on October 28, 2014[^rene-reglamento]. The registry has two parts: the emissions reported by obligated facilities and a section where mitigation or emission reduction projects can be registered, with a validation opinion from an accredited and approved body[^rene-lgcc][^rene-reglamento].

## Who must report to the RENE

A facility reports when it meets two conditions at once[^rene-reglamento]:

- **It is in a listed sector.** Articles 3 and 4 of the regulation list the sectors, subsectors and activities.
- **It reaches the threshold.** The annual sum of its direct and indirect emissions is equal to or above **25,000 tonnes of CO₂ equivalent**, counting all its fixed and mobile sources.

**Direct emissions** come from your fixed sources and from the owned or leased vehicles you use in your activity; vehicles of a carrier that provides you a transport service do not count as leased. **Indirect emissions** are generated outside your facility by the electricity and thermal energy you consume[^rene-reglamento].

**RENE sectors, article 3 of the regulation[^rene-reglamento]**

| Sector | Subsectors |
| --- | --- |
| Energy | Electricity generation, transmission and distribution; hydrocarbon exploration, production, transport and distribution |
| Transport | Air, rail, sea and road |
| Industry | Chemicals, iron and steel, metallurgy, metalworking, mining, automotive, pulp and paper, printing, petrochemicals, cement and lime, glass, electronics, electrical, food and beverages, wood and textiles |
| Agriculture | Crops and livestock |
| Waste | Wastewater; municipal solid waste and special handling waste, including final disposal |
| Commerce and services | Construction, retail, education, recreation and entertainment, tourism, medical services, government and financial services |

> The threshold also applies to facilities in those sectors regulated by states or municipalities. If you are below the threshold but a state or local law requires you to report to its own registry, you comply with that registry[^rene-reglamento].

## Which gases and compounds are reported

The regulation requires each one to be reported in tonnes per year and in its equivalent in tonnes of CO₂ equivalent[^rene-reglamento]:

- Carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide.
- Black carbon or soot.
- Chlorofluorocarbons, hydrochlorofluorocarbons, hydrofluorocarbons and perfluorocarbons.
- Sulphur hexafluoride and nitrogen trifluoride.
- Halogenated ethers, halocarbons and mixtures of all of the above.
- Others determined by the IPCC that SEMARNAT publishes as reportable in the Official Gazette (Diario Oficial de la Federación).

Each gas is converted to CO₂ equivalent with the global warming potentials set by a SEMARNAT agreement, consistent with the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report[^rene-semarnat]. The list includes the seven [Kyoto Protocol](https://bluegreenmaterials.com/en/kyoto-protocol-and-paris-agreement) gases and adds others, such as black carbon.

## How to report: the Annual Operating Report (COA)

The RENE report is filed in the Annual Operating Report (COA), the same instrument SEMARNAT uses to collect facilities' pollutant emissions and transfers[^rene-reglamento]. Greenhouse gases go in its section VI[^rene-coa].

1. **Identify your sources**: List your fixed and mobile sources by activity, and your electricity and thermal energy consumption[^rene-reglamento].
2. **Calculate your emissions**: With the regulation's methodologies: emission factors or mass balance depending on the activity, and direct measurement where SEMARNAT requires it. SEMARNAT publishes a calculator and each year's electricity emission factor[^rene-reglamento][^rene-semarnat].
3. **File the COA**: Between March 1 and June 30, with emissions from January 1 to December 31 of the previous year, by gas or compound[^rene-reglamento].
4. **Answer the review**: SEMARNAT has 20 business days to review the report and may ask you, once, to complete or clarify data within up to 15 business days. If you do not answer, the greenhouse gas report is deemed not filed[^rene-reglamento].
5. **Keep the records**: Keep the information, data and calculations behind each report for 5 years from the date SEMARNAT received the COA[^rene-reglamento].

If you file the COA only for your greenhouse gases, it asks for your legal name, tax ID (RFC), NAICS activity code, legal representative, address, period and emissions by gas. For fixed sources it adds fuel consumed and location; for mobile sources, the number and type of units and their fuel[^rene-reglamento].

## Deadlines and verification

**RENE calendar[^rene-reglamento]**

| What | When | Article of the regulation |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Annual report in the COA | March 1 to June 30, with data for the previous year | 12 |
| SEMARNAT review | 20 business days from receipt of the COA | 12 |
| Verification opinion | Every 3 years, between July 1 and November 30 | 16 |
| Correcting errors | By notice to SEMARNAT, before PROFEPA inspects | 11 |
| Records | 5 years from the date SEMARNAT receives the COA | 9 |

The opinion is issued by an accredited and approved body, which reviews the emissions of the year before the report[^rene-reglamento]. SEMARNAT publishes the list of accredited and approved verification and validation bodies[^rene-semarnat]. If the body finds errors from earlier years, it tells you so you can file the correction notice[^rene-reglamento].

## What happens if you do not report

> **Fines under the law** If you do not deliver the information SEMARNAT requests within the set deadline, PROFEPA, the federal environmental enforcement agency, can fine you 500 to 3,000 days of minimum wage, and you still have to deliver it. If the information is false or you miss the delivery deadlines and terms, the fine is 3,000 to 10,000 days, and it can be tripled for repeat offences. The law states them in days of minimum wage[^rene-lgcc]; since 2016 those references are calculated in UMA, the Unidad de Medida y Actualización (the Mexican unit of measure and update)[^rene-uma].

PROFEPA can inspect your facility to check the consistency of your reports and how you applied the methodologies; if it requests the information, you have up to 15 business days to deliver it[^rene-reglamento]. An error you find before an inspection is corrected with a written notice to SEMARNAT, with your COA number, the error and the correct figure[^rene-reglamento].

## Where scrap and recycling fit

The RENE records your facility's emissions: those from your sources and those from the energy you consume[^rene-reglamento]. What happens to your scrap after it leaves your plant takes place at other people's sources, so it fits neither of those two definitions.

- **In your corporate inventory.** Under the GHG Protocol, waste you send for recycling goes in scope 3, category 5[^ghg-scope3]. See [scope 3: waste and recycling](https://bluegreenmaterials.com/en/scope-3-waste-and-recycling) and [carbon footprint](https://bluegreenmaterials.com/en/carbon-footprint).
- **Avoided emissions, separately.** What recycling avoids is not included in or deducted from scope 3; it is reported separately, with evidence and methodology[^ghg-scope3].
- **Recyclers may report too.** The regulation lists basic iron and steel, metallurgy and waste recycling, collection and transport activities; they report if they reach the threshold[^rene-reglamento].
- **Registering reductions is a different procedure.** The mitigation projects section requires a validation opinion from an accredited and approved body[^rene-reglamento].

Bluegreen issues a certificate for each lot, with a folio that can be verified online, stating the lot's net avoided CO₂e. It is not a carbon credit and cannot be sold or transferred. See [how it is calculated](https://bluegreenmaterials.com/en/impact-methodology) and [what the recycling certificate is](https://bluegreenmaterials.com/en/recycling-certificate).

## Frequently asked questions

### What is the RENE?

SEMARNAT's National Emissions Registry, created by the General Law on Climate Change, where obligated facilities report their greenhouse gases and compounds[^rene-lgcc][^rene-reglamento].

### Who must report to the RENE?

A facility in a sector or activity listed in the regulation whose direct and indirect emissions add up to 25,000 t of CO₂e or more in the year[^rene-reglamento].

### What is the COA and when is it filed?

The Annual Operating Report (Cédula de Operación Anual) is the form used to report to SEMARNAT. The greenhouse gas report goes in it from March 1 to June 30, with data for the previous year[^rene-reglamento].

### How do I know if I reach 25,000 t of CO₂e?

Add up the year's emissions from all your fixed and mobile sources and the indirect emissions from the electricity and thermal energy you consume, calculated with the regulation's methodologies[^rene-reglamento]. SEMARNAT publishes an emissions calculator on the RENE page[^rene-semarnat].

### How often is the report verified?

Every 3 years you attach a verification opinion from an accredited and approved body, delivered between July 1 and November 30[^rene-reglamento].

### What is the fine for not reporting to the RENE?

500 to 3,000 days of minimum wage if you do not deliver the information on time, and 3,000 to 10,000 days if it is false or you miss deadlines and terms; it can be tripled for repeat offences[^rene-lgcc]. Those days are now calculated in UMA, not minimum wage[^rene-uma].

### Does recycling my scrap count in the RENE?

Not as a reduction of your report: the RENE records your direct and indirect emissions[^rene-reglamento]. What your scrap avoids by being recycled is reported separately from your inventory, under the GHG Protocol[^ghg-scope3].

## Sources

[^rene-lgcc]: Cámara de Diputados, leyes federales vigentes, «Ley General de Cambio Climático, arts. 87 a 90, 114 y 115 (última reforma DOF 01-04-2024)» (vigente). https://www.diputados.gob.mx/LeyesBiblio/pdf/LGCC.pdf
[^rene-reglamento]: Cámara de Diputados, leyes federales vigentes, «Reglamento de la Ley General de Cambio Climático en materia del Registro Nacional de Emisiones (DOF 28-10-2014), arts. 2 a 18, 24 y 26» (2014). https://www.diputados.gob.mx/LeyesBiblio/regley/Reg_LGCC_MRNE_281014.pdf
[^rene-semarnat]: Secretaría de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales (SEMARNAT), «Registro Nacional de Emisiones (RENE): gases, umbral, calculadora, factores eléctricos y organismos de verificación» (2026). https://www.gob.mx/semarnat/acciones-y-programas/registro-nacional-de-emisiones-rene
[^rene-coa]: Secretaría de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales (SEMARNAT), «Cédula de Operación Anual, sección VI: Registro Nacional de Emisiones (Dirección General de Políticas para el Cambio Climático)» (2021). https://www.gob.mx/cms/uploads/attachment/file/703802/7-_SECC_VI_RENE.pdf
[^rene-uma]: Diario Oficial de la Federación, «Decreto de reforma constitucional en materia de desindexación del salario mínimo (DOF 27-01-2016), artículo tercero transitorio» (2016). https://dof.gob.mx/nota_detalle.php?codigo=5423663&fecha=27/01/2016
[^ghg-scope3]: GHG Protocol (WRI and WBCSD), «Technical Guidance for Calculating Scope 3 Emissions, version 1.0, category 5» (2013). https://ghgprotocol.org/sites/default/files/2023-03/Scope3_Calculation_Guidance_0%5B1%5D.pdf