Author: IKI Alliance

The current coronavirus pandemic can be used as an opportunity to adapt and better prepare our cities to deal with current and future climate and health challenges. The app Árbol IoT helps cities to better plan and manage urban trees. This can help to avoid high temperatures, to buffer the impacts of flood events, and to mitigate socioeconomic-related health inequalities, among others.

Árbol IoT or Internet de los Árboles (IoTrees or the Internet of Trees in English) is a platform to engage citizens in urban tree mapping and environmental monitoring. Ideated and developed in the City of Guadalajara, Mexico, it aims to empower citizen advocacy and support municipal urban tree management to improve the greenery in the city. Thus contributing to ameliorate high temperatures and to buffer the impacts of flood events. The platform seeks to crowdsource an easy-to-update urban tree inventory, visualize and quantify the ecological benefits of trees and assist in public decision-making based on data and evidence.

Árbol IoT is a cross-platform composed of a mobile and web app, and a network of low-cost sensors that allows citizens to monitor the pollutants suspended in the environment, weather and noise on a street scale. The platform encourages engagement with green gamification and enables participation of a wide range of the population, including the elderly. It fosters inclusion through a mobile interactive table that can be placed in public spaces and used on-site by citizens who don’t have access to digital technology. A light feature within the mobile app allows citizens with limited or no mobile data on their devices to map and capture information offline and to upload it later when WiFi is available.

MuCitySavior, AylluDamos and Árbol IoT, the open-source digital solutions of the Global Program “ICT-based Adaptation to Climate Change in Cities” are developed, in use and have already been transferred and scaled up in India, Peru and Mexico, respectively. The three digital solutions have been applied to the #SmartDevelopmentHack in order to remark the critical importance of a green recovery. The current coronavirus pandemic is a good opportunity to adapt and better prepare our cities to deal with current and future health challenges

Thus, Árbol IoT joined the #SmartDevelopmentHack as a digital solution to help cities plan and manage an evenly spatial distribution of urban trees to mitigate socioeconomic-related health inequalities. Urban trees can help clean the air, and air pollution is closely associated to health problems such as asthma, high blood pressure, and diabetes, all of which are believed to pose a high risk to COVID-19 patients. Previous pandemics such as the plague, tuberculosis and cholera proved to transform cities by putting pressure into increasing greenery. For example, the design and construction of Central Park and many other parks in the 1800s was justified by the need of green areas to clean the air.

Distributed Generation is an adequate mechanism to impulse cost reduction in companies and organizations while avoiding emitting greenhouse gases into the environment. It is an important strategy to mitigate the economic impacts of COVID-19, and one of the main challenges is to find financing mechanisms that can accelerate the execution of these projects in the country. For this reason, LAB Mexico promoted the development of a workshop for the financing of Distributed Generation (DG) on November 13, 2019.

Currently, the photovoltaic DG has an installed capacity in Mexico of almost 1,000MWp, representing 1% of the capacity of the national electricity system, while the available capacity of the General Distribution Network is 27,000MWp. The DG will play a fundamental role in fulfilling energy transition goals by 2035.

There is a great opportunity to support companies – especially small and medium-sized enterprises – with renewable energy strategies that reduce their energy costs, permitting the recovery of their post-COVID-19 economies.

The conclusions, based on the analysis of the discussions carried out among participants during the workshop, will serve as a guide for establishing the monitoring and intervention plan (roadmap) with key stakeholders in the industry.

 

Credits: LAB México

 

The DG sector is not robust enough to finance this transformation alone. Commercial banking in Mexico is a solid sector with reserves, capacities and scope that can facilitate this transition.

However, both industries are required to work together on the following aspects:

  • The promotion of the benefits of photovoltaic DG must be strengthened in the SME sector to increase financing demands for this type of project. This promotion should be a joint effort between relevant business associations, development finance institutions, and local and federal governments.
  • Revolving credit lines must be implemented for companies integrating DG in order to facilitate DG growth and consolidation.
  • Other financing instruments, such as leasing and energy purchase contracts, must be promoted as alternatives to conventional credit, both in supply and demand.
  • A certain and stable regulatory environment must be promoted to facilitate the investment of risk capital with different business models and financing, and with the capacity to replicate and scale. This is the work of the photovoltaic industry, alongside development and commercial financial institutions, as well as local governments.
  • Information that allows financial institutions to better assess risks and generate products according to the risk profile of the projects must be generated on the market and performance of DG projects.
  • Financial institutions require a greater technical understanding of the value propositions of PV systems, their operational risks and shelf life.
  • Various financial intermediation schemes should be explored with the support of “asset managers” that facilitate project evaluation, risk determination, dispersion of financing and collection responsibility.

As a product of this IDB workshop, ABM and GIZ, together with NAFIN, encouraged the hiring of a consultant to provide material for this roadmap, which will be delivered at the end of June and will be disseminated through the IDB, ABM, GIZ and IKI.

The workshop materials can be found here.

Communities that conserve, restore and sustainably exploit mangroves depend on the fair marketing of their products. Mundo Manglar is a strategy that seeks to connect local products with responsible consumer markets – a particularly relevant proposal in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic and its impacts on the local economy.

In the context of the COVID-19 health contingency, the need to promote consumption in fairer markets, favoring local economies and projects based on the sustainable use of our ecosystems, has been highlighted. Mundo Manglar is a promotional initiative led by Pronatura Veracruz A.C. to sensitize the market to the importance of mangroves and the environmental services they provide. The responsible consumption of products such as wood, charcoal, and honey contributes to the conservation of biodiversity and boosts local economies, especially in the face of the global health contingency.

The project “Restoration of the mangrove landscape; an opportunity for social development at the RAMSAR Sistema Laguna de Alvarado site in Veracruz, Mexico” (financed by Germany’s Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, BMU, within the IKI initiative) aims to generate a long-term strategy for mangrove restoration, which simultaneously lays the foundation for sustainable use and commercialization in fair markets.

 

 

Local livelihoods that depend directly on mangroves have been heavily impacted by the health contingency. Activities such as fishing or the production of charcoal, wood, and mangrove honey are linked with other economic sectors that are currently detained or restricted – such as tourism and local food consumption.

The health emergency requires a response that can mitigate direct impacts and, in turn, create opportunities to strengthen projects in the face of the medium-term repercussions. Analyzing the value chains in the face of the pandemic allows us to identify implications and specific actions to move forwards with the commercialization of mangrove products.

In this context, the Mundo Manglar website and campaign takes on more relevance and also faces important challenges. It must enable effective digital sales and delivery systems, considering the communities’ limited access to digital media. On the other hand, we must sensitize the market to maintain and increase the consumption of products with fair prices, both during the contingency and the medium-term repercussions of COVID-19.

The Water and Sanitation Companies program for Water and Wastewater Companies for Climate Mitigation (WaCCliM) is implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH in Mexico, in direct coordination with the National Water Commission (CONAGUA). The program’s main aim is to support water and sanitation operating agencies (OOs) in reducing their carbon footprint and increasing their climate resilience.

Increasing the frequency of handwashing is one of the main activities promoted by the Mexican Government to reduce the spreading of the COVID-19 virus. This daily activity leads us to pay much more attention to the “behind the scenes” of the water and sanitation sector, as well as the importance that it function, so that people in any part of the country can have access to enough water – in quality and quantity – to carry out this preventive measure.

The activities of the WaCCliM program have a direct and organic relationship with the sustainable recovery (green recovery) that is expected during the following months or years. They include: strengthening the capacities of the operational personnel currently working in OOs; improving public health services by promoting access to drinking water and sanitation services throughout the country; promoting and replicating the use of technologies that minimize the carbon footprint of OOs and which, in turn, require the professionalization of the sector, in order to provide technical consulting services and the implementation of environmentally friendly technologies.

The Emissions Trading System (ETS) is one of the carbon price mechanisms that has accelerated the mitigation of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions over the past decade. It works using the “cap and trade” principle. A limit is imposed on emissions from one or more economic sectors, and regulated facilities are granted a limited number of emission rights that they can trade among themselves, to carry out their compliance obligations in a cost-effective manner.

There are factors that ensure the proper functioning of an ETS; among them, stability in carbon prices and a supply of emission rights that is consistent with market demand. The current economic recession caused by COVID-19 has altered these two variables and has presented significant challenges for the more than 20 ETS operating around the world. It is important to be aware of the global strategies to overcome these challenges and identify lessons learned that could strengthen the ETS Test Program in Mexico, in force since January 2020.

According to ICAP data, there was a significant drop in carbon prices in California and Quebec in March, as well as in the European Union (EU), where it fell from an average of 25 EUR to 15 EUR. In Switzerland, the auction of emission rights was even rescheduled due to the price drop. Commercialization of emission rights in the ETS of the EU is affected by oversupply, which can lead to a reduction in public revenue from auctions, and discourage investments in mitigation technologies.

Countries such as Canada, China, Korea, and Switzerland have responded to these impacts by postponing compliance and reporting dates, while the European Commission anticipates a reduction in the number of emission rights available within the Market Stability Reserve. On the other hand, Poland and the Czech Republic have suggested a review of the EU’s ETS conditions.

Strategies implemented by other countries help inform Mexico of the risks faced by ETS and their possible solutions. The project “Preparation of an Emissions Trading System in Mexico” (SiCEM), implemented by the Deutsche Gesell¬schaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH will follow the evolution of the system’s global situation closely.

States and regions play a critical role in achieving green recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. These jurisdictions are closest to the communities and have a great opportunity to link economic recovery measures with environmental considerations.

The Climate Footprint Project, which supports the governments of Baja California, Jalisco and Yucatan to improve their greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction and monitoring efforts, has recognized the importance of adapting to the current crisis. It seeks to demonstrate the importance of Measurement, Reporting and Verification (MRV) systems in providing the data that will allow state governments to assess the socioeconomic and environmental impacts of climate actions. Furthermore, this will help to highlight one of the most important results we have been able to see so far: the mainstreaming of climate change.

In the face of travel restrictions and large group meetings, the project has reinvented itself to achieve its goals. A concrete example is the Jalisco experience, where a series of technical webinars have been developed with the different Ministries that form part of the mitigation group at the state’s Inter-Institutional Action Commission on Climate Change, as part of the capacity-building offered by the project. For one month – online – representatives from each Ministry have joined working groups to continue mainstreaming climate change in their entities.

Credits: The Climate Group. Webinar-Presentation System for monitoring climate actions at the sub-national level with GIZ (May 19).

Through interactive tools, the team facilitated work sessions to develop and identify mitigation actions and indicators that lead towards monitoring a future green recovery. Similar work will be done in the states of Yucatan and Baja California. In parallel, the “From Follow-up to Action” series of peer-to-peer forums will begin shortly, providing another opportunity for state governments to learn virtually.

 

Credits: The Climate Group. Virtual working group – Jalisco transport sector.

 

The project Huella Climática is led by The Climate Group as a ministry of Coalición Under2, and supports state and regional governments in Mexico, Brazil, India, and South Africa. Its main objectives are:

  • To provide a customized package of technical assistance and training for states to improve their capabilities and knowledge on Measurement, Reporting and Verification (MRV) systems;
  • To align regional MRV systems with national and local efforts in order to promote integrated climate action through dialogs between national, state, regional and local governments, and align climate actions at all levels of government;
  • To promote knowledge exchange and the reproduction of good practices at an international level through case studies and peer forums, among others.

After a multi-stakeholder participatory process, the CiClim program supported the development of the conceptual and methodological structure to put payment models for environmental services in two cities into operation.

The inhabitants of León (Guanajuato) suffer from water supply service problems (90% of which is overexploited) and poor air quality (in 2017, 173 days were outside the norm). In this context, 75% of the population surveyed through social networks showed that they were willing to voluntarily contribute between $2 and $15 more when paying for their water bill or vehicle verification. This financing will be administered by the already existing Municipal Environmental Fund and will be destined towards activities that help to recover urban green areas and subsequently the Sierra de Lobos natural protected area, as projects subject to the Fund’s operating rules are approved.

 

Sierra de Lobos, ANP de León Guanajuato Credit: GIZ CiClim © 2019

 

In Morelia (Michoacán), the overexploitation of the aquifer that supplies the city – and affects the current condition of the main state and municipal protected natural areas – was considered serious. In this city, surveys (with direct population sampling) reported that 80% of the interviewees are willing to make a voluntary contribution of money – between $2 and $12 fortnightly – going towards financing projects related to the conservation of protected areas. The municipal government is in the process of approving the Environmental Fund, to manage the resources and coordinate the proposed programs.

 

Río Chiquito, ANP Morelia Mich. Credit: GIZ CiClim © 2019

 

As of the writing of this text, work is still in progress on a forest compensation mechanism for the municipality of Mérida (Yucatán).

This project is implemented by the Cities and Climate Change (CiClim) program and is part of the International Climate Initiative (IKI) of Germany’s Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU).

COVID-19 has affected Mexico since February 27 of this year and with it, the people’s mobility and interaction has been restricted. One of the most vulnerable sectors to these measures is the Tourism sector.

According to preliminary figures from the World Tourism Organization, a loss of approximately 45 billion dollars is estimated, and a decrease between 60 and 80% in the arrival of international tourists in 2020. To equate these figures, that means losing almost twice the amount of foreign exchange registered in 2019.

The situation is complex and challenging for everyone, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises and the population that depends on them. José Benigno Torres, President of the San Miguel de Allende Business Coordinating Council, stated that, at least in this tourist destination:

“There is a risk of 60% of hotels closing permanently, and around 40% of restaurants… And those of us who are going to transcend this epidemic face particularly important challenges: we must reinvent the way in which we provide our services and learn from this huge health crisis.”

As a consequence, business dialogues have been taking place in several parts of the country, reflecting upon the way tourism developed before the crisis and if it is adequate for this new reality. Likewise, some reflections are being shared regarding the lessons that should permeate in future sector decisions. The Bahía de Banderas and Puerto Vallarta Business Association (AEBBA), through its president, Jorge Villanueva, stated:

“The great lesson that COVID leaves us is the folly of humanity by not protecting nature, in many areas. We cannot go back to doing things the same way. We have to be more socially and environmentally responsible.”

Without a doubt, the total impacts on tourism will be documented with more certainty in the months following the end of the pandemic and in accordance with the mobility regulations that each country establishes. Therefore, this moment is an opportunity to create creative strategies that permit the economic, social, and environmental recovery of the country.

For more information, we invite you to read a special newsletter on COVID 19 and Tourism (in Spanish).

Human mobility in the context of climate change has gained space in international agendas on sustainable development and climate change. The formulation of the National Adaptation Plans of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) member countries following COP 16 represents an opportunity to consider internal climate migration from a human rights perspective.

Climate migration is a reality all over the world. As the global average temperature increases to 1.5°C, there will be an increase in incidents of internal migration and displacement. The challenge is much greater for the most vulnerable countries: Least Developed Countries (LDCs), Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs) and Small Island Developing States (SIDS). According to a study by the World Bank, it is projected that by 2050, in sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and Latin America alone, around 143 million people could be forced to move within their own countries to escape the impacts of climate change.

Under the 2010 Cancun Adaptation Framework, the Parties to the UNFCCC assumed the commitment to intensify their work identifying and implementing strategies of adaptation to climate change, among others things; this involves taking measures to improve understanding, coordination, and cooperation regarding displacement, migration, and planned relocation as a consequence of climate change. In addition, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 addresses the displacement caused – or not – by climate disasters, as well as the contribution of migrants to resilience at their destination. However, the official recognition of climate-induced migration and displacement is still in its early stages within international agreements on climate change.

Human mobility related to climate risks can occur in response to different types of risks and in different ways: forced displacement, voluntary migration, organized relocation, within a country or across borders, individually, or as a community. For its part, the International Organization for Migration maintains a sustainable development perspective, which allows needs to be met and vulnerabilities of populations exposed to environmental factors to be reduced, through disaster risk reduction and adaptation measures to climate change.

One of the initiatives in the field that has most gained momentum at an international level is the understanding of migration as part of the adaptation strategy that can be promoted through planned relocation and resettlement, or through temporary migration. However, it is increasingly evident that the ability to migrate – beyond a human right – is a function of mobility and resources (both financial and social); that is, the people most vulnerable to climate change are not necessarily the most likely to migrate.

It is important to understand the context that motivates the displacement of people due to reasons associated with climate change. However, going further than the risk-focused approach, the challenge of the international agenda and regulatory frameworks at an international level lies in addressing an approach that focuses on the human rights of migrants – the movement itself and the destination. Furthermore, it should focus on those who, for economic, social, or cultural reasons, are forced to stay in the affected or most at-risk areas.

To date, only a few countries have finished formulating their National Adaptation Policy (NAP). In the case of Mexico, the government is in charge of initiating a participative construction process with regional actors. For their part, other countries are still defining their strategy to comply with the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), either by increasing the ambition of their goals or by updating national commitments. This represents an opportunity for these countries to consider climate risk and the challenges and opportunities of migration in national development planning, from a human rights and people-centered approach.

When implementing climate measures, indicators play a critical role in monitoring and evaluation (M&E) mechanisms. In addition to promoting transparency, they justify investments in climate change adaptation projects as effective and sustainable actions.

In Mexico, the General Law on Climate Change (LGCC) recognizes in Article 27 that the national policy of adaptation to climate change “will be based on instruments of diagnosis, planning, measurement, monitoring, reporting, verification, and evaluation”, with the aim of reducing the vulnerability of society and ecosystems, as well as strengthening the resilience of natural and human systems to the effects of climate change. This provision is essential to glimpse the progress that Mexico has made in complying with Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) on adaptation.

The monitoring and evaluation (M&E) instruments, as well as facilitating the monitoring of project progress, function as a transparency and accountability mechanism that is attractive for both political and financial decision makers. Thus, managers of climate change adaptation projects must design M&E mechanisms with indicators that provide unequivocal conclusions about how adaptation measures reduce vulnerabilities to the consequences of climate change.

The formulation of indicators for monitoring and verifying the results of adaptation projects presents challenges, amongst them the uncertainties about the local and regional consequences of climate change, the time horizon of climate variability, and the relationship between climate change and other social aspects. Likewise, given the diversity of socio-cultural, socio-political and geographic contexts, there is no universal indicator or list of indicators that can evaluate the results of adaptation or promote their replicability.

GIZ Mexico held the launch event “Co-benefits: Climate Action for Sustainable Development in Mexico” to present the main results of two co-benefits studies and discuss national and regional opportunities to quantify co-benefits with a sustainable development perspective.

On the one hand, the 2030 Agenda Initiative team, together with the Office of the Presidency of the Republic, presented the study Doing the Numbers: Quantifying the Co-benefits of Climate Action for Sustainable Development in Mexico that explores synergies between the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda and the co-benefits of an integrated implementation of both agendas. On the other hand, the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT), together with the project Enhancing the Coherence of Climate and Energy Polices in Mexico (CONECC), presented the study Co-benefits: Contribution of the Energy Transition for Sustainable Development in Mexico, which examines the important co-benefits of renewable energy and energy efficiency in Mexico’s energy transition, as well as the most appropriate policy options to deliver these benefits to the Mexican people.

 

 

Credits: GIZ 2020. Word cloud with participants’ expectations

 

During the day, several experts such as Dr. Amparo Martínez Arroyo, general director of the National Institute of Ecology and Climate Change (INECC), spoke about the co-benefits resulting from the integration of the climate, energy, and sustainable development agendas in Mexico. After presenting the main findings and results of both studies, the engineer Yutsil Sanginés, general director of Public Policies for Climate Change at SEMARNAT, presented the design and implementation of an Emissions Trading System in Mexico.

 

Credits: GIZ 2020. Opening message from Dr. Amparo Martínez Arroyo and Mr. Oliver Knoerich

 

In order to highlight the role of the states, a sub-national panel was held, in which the secretaries of Oaxaca, Yucatan, and Puebla discussed the actions and opportunities of their states in mainstreaming climate action into development policies.

Finally, the participants had the opportunity to present their ideas and opinions in three working tables, which were created to establish the future lines of investigation for the studies presented. These focused on the prospects for mainstreaming climate action into development policies and vice versa, on the elements for creating a tool for quantifying co-benefits of renewable energy and energy efficiency, and on prioritizing co-benefits in the implementation of an Emissions Trading System in Mexico.

 

This event was held on March 4, 2020 at the Museum of Memory and Tolerance in Mexico City. It was organized by the teams of Agenda 2030, CONECC, and SiCEM, which are part of the International Climate Initiative (IKI) of Germany’s Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) and Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

 

 

The high level of vulnerability of women and girls to climate change is closely related to the roles and norms attached to their gender. That is why it is essential to mainstream gender perspectives into climate action policies and programs, in order to evaluate the extent to which these instruments contribute to reducing gender inequality.

The interaction of men and women with the environment occurs differently according to their gender roles, needs, responsibilities, and established power relations. This means that environment and climate change effects impact them in different ways and to different extents. Women represent 43% of the agricultural workforce in developing countries, but only 5% have access to agricultural extension services. Likewise, they occupy just 14% of the managerial positions in the sector, with only 10% to 20% of landholders being women. Furthermore, women in forestry, fishing and agriculture receive only 7% of agricultural investment.

The conditions of inequality and discrimination against women and girls – as well as other vulnerable groups (older adults, people with physical disabilities, indigenous people, people living in poverty or marginalization, people in homelessness, etc.) – tend to exacerbate as a result of climate change, as their vulnerability to the adverse effects of this phenomenon is even greater.

Despite the international consensus that promoting gender equality helps reduce poverty, supports inclusive growth, and increases the effectiveness and sustainability of development initiatives, there is still a need for data according to sex, which consider gender an essential element to assess the relative situation of men and women at local, national and global levels in terms of the environment and climate change.

In this context, the Government of Mexico City (CDMX) through the Climate Change Directorate of the Ministry of the Environment of Mexico City (SEDEMA) requested the support of the Mexican-German Climate Change Alliance implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, to generate indicators with a gender perspective for the 2014-2020 Mexico City Climate Action Program.

This initiative was carried out through awareness-raising workshops and working groups at the inter-institutional level between the different agencies that report to the PACCM (Mexico City Climate Action Program), the Mexico City Institute for Women (Inmujeres CDMX), as well as liaisons and dependencies responsible for the implementation of lines of action for the Mexico City Special Program for Equal Opportunities and Non-Discrimination Against Women 2015-2018 (PEIOND).

Gender indicators have the special function of signaling social changes regarding gender relations over time. In the case of the PACCM, this translates into an effort to know to what extent the guidelines of this instrument help reduce the inequality gap between women and men, and address the needs and concerns of each group when faced with the effects of climate change.

Some challenges were identified due to the work being carried out to incorporate the gender perspective in the lines of action and PACCM indicators, such as changes in perception and recognition of the link between climate change and gender – or the lack of data and base lines to monitor and evaluate progress in this area. However, it is also possible to take the Mexico City government experience to promote a harmonization of public policies and coordination between institutions at a local level (Review: “Products, Results, Lessons Learned, and Recommendations”). Likewise, this tool presents an easily replicable method for state and municipal governments to integrate gender perspectives into their sectoral attributions, thereby identifying and formulating mitigation and adaptation actions to climate change.