Within the framework of the recent launch of the Emissions Trading System (ETS) Test Program in Mexico in January, 2020, the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH project “Preparation of an Emissions Trading System in Mexico” (SiCEM) is carrying out capacity development activities, dissemination, and dialogue regarding the ETS with various actors. The aim is to work together with public, private, and civil society sectors in order to create an environment conducive to the implementation of an Emissions Trading System in the country.
In this context, together with the Mora Institute and the academic publisher Springer, the SiCEM project is supporting a collaborative effort to write a multi-author academic book on the Emissions Trading System in Mexico. Academics from important national and international research centers will participate in the book. Recently, these researchers were summoned to a seminar to present their progress, as well as to hold an interesting conversation in order to shape the book’s thematic structure.
Credits: GIZ. Researchers during the event.
The seminar was held on March 10, 2020, at the Mora Institute facilities in Mexico City. This institution convened the event, with the support of the SiCEM project implemented by GIZ on behalf of Germany’s Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU). Participants included distinguished universities such as the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), the Center for Research and Teaching in Economics (CIDE), Anahuac University, the National Polytechnic Institute (IPN), the Autonomous University of Baja California Sur (UABCS), and the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences (FLACSO). Furthermore, researchers participated virtually from international universities and research centers such as Stanford University, the University of California, and the Alexander Von Humboldt Foundation.
Credits: GIZ. The researchers discussed the book’s progress.
The conversation revolved around different subject areas. Firstly, it was acknowledged that the book needed to contain a section that would contextualize the ETS in the framework of the country’s public policies and compliance with international agendas. The importance of analyzing the legal framework that supports the implementation of the ETS in Mexico, along with its institutional and governance structure, was also discussed. Finally, the discussion covered the design elements of the ETS as well as perspectives that will further strengthen the instrument, as the Mexican ETS transitions from its test phase to the operational phase.
Academic research about the ETS is key to generating analysis and inputs that can strengthen the instrument’s Operational Phase. Thus, the SiCEM project will continue to support promotional activities for this research in Mexico. In the coming months, efforts to build capacities, facilitate dialogue, and develop additional technical studies to strengthen the system’s design will continue to be featured on the “IKI Alliance Mexico” blog.
The construction sector is essential for an economic recovery after the COVID-19 crisis. It can rapidly create large amounts of jobs and involves far-reaching value chains of small and large businesses. In 2015, the sector accounted for 11-13% of global GDP. It is indeed a major employer: 7% of total global employment or 220 million jobs depend on it. Globally, USD 4.5 trillion were spent on construction and renovation of buildings in 2018.
The building sector holds the potential for a double win: providing a powerful tool to stimulate the economy, while moving the whole sector to a new and greener state. For small extra investments, green buildings can achieve massive long-term savings of cost and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that realizing the potential of sustainable buildings will save USD 1.1 trillion by 2050. Nevertheless, the real estate business is slow to change its way of doing things and mobilize these small extra investments without external nudges in the form of legal obligations or incentives.
Crisis Response as Investment in the Future: Examples from Republic of Korea, Germany and US
Therefore, we have at this moment of global crisis a unique opportunity to shift the course of the building sector and earmark investments for green construction. Governments all over the globe are devising the best strategies to deal with the crisis, under enormous time pressure. If we aim for “business-as-usual,” we will repeat or even aggravate the mistakes of the past. Instead, we need to urgently change the path of the building sector to move towards green buildings, or even zero-carbon buildings.
The response to the crisis should be an investment in the future. Governments already successfully used green building programmes to help recover from the financial crisis in 2008. For example, the Republic of Korea used stimulus measures for green buildings that combined stricter policies with financial support. A green building code for large residential buildings required a 20% energy efficiency improvement. In parallel, the government provided a financial incentive programme for the retrofitting of homes. A ‘Building Energy Certification Programme’ was gradually extended to all building types.
Germany used programmes for energy-efficient construction and refurbishment. Preferential loans for new residential constructions and refurbishments of residential, municipal, and social buildings set increasingly higher standards for energy efficiency. With government funding of EUR 2 billion in 2016, the programmes leveraged investments of EUR 45 billion, roughly half of which was directly spent on energy efficiency measures. In 2016, more than 400,000 private residential units were financed and 286,000 jobs induced. The subsidised buildings saved 1,730 GWh of final energy and 619,000 tonnes of GHG emissions in 2017.
The US provided more than USD 11 billion in stimulus funding for building upgrade programmes in sectors such as homes, businesses, government buildings, and public facilities such as schools and hospitals after the financial crisis. These programmes delivered about USD 2 in energy cost savings for every USD 1 invested. More than 200,000 jobs were created.
Credits: PEEB
Successful Blueprints for Green Building Programmes Exist
Green building programmes can stimulate economic activity and create jobs, while simultaneously achieving environmental and social goals. The French-German PEEB programme is currently working with its partner countries in Morocco and Vietnam on such stimulus programmes for energy-efficient buildings.
A combination of several instruments such as financial incentives or public procurement can be employed, targeting either investors or private households. This can be done through:
Residential or commercial energy efficiency programmes for new buildings or refurbishments that use public funds to leverage private investments, through instruments such as subsidies, grants, or concessional loans.
Public procurement programmes for energy efficiency in public buildings through retrofits or new construction, for example in schools, hospitals or administrative buildings, can improve hygienic standards at the same time.
Replacement programmes for equipment and appliances, such as boilers, energy-efficient lighting or household appliances through bulk purchasing or installation programmes, which provide financial incentives, like subsidies or tax exemptions, to suppliers (supply-side) or households (demand side).
Green energy generation in buildings, providing incentives to households or private investors.
Ambitious policies and standards for green buildings should be developed in parallel, to ensure a lasting transformation of the building sector. This should be accompanied by knowledge transfer and the development of local green building and construction skills.
“Strings Attached” – Green Conditionality for Stimulus Packages for Building Sector
Green stimulus packages for the construction industry need to have “strings attached”: a “green conditionality” is needed to set the bar higher for buildings that receive support.
Some basic criteria can be applied, based on the national context, to favor a sustainable development of the construction sector in the long term:
Rewarding performance: higher energy or low-carbon performance goals should be rewarded with higher financial incentives.
Incentives for project certification and labeling through a systematic inclusion of energy efficiency and environmental criteria in public and private procurement documentation and lending.
Preferential treatment for green buildings: Priority should be given to green construction projects, for example through including green criteria for public procurement or “fast track” processing of building permits.
Accelerate national climate policies: short-term economic stimulus programmes should be geared towards a country’s climate and sustainable development
By setting smart and effective criteria for green buildings, short-term stimulus packages can become a double tool for economic recovery and environmental sustainability. If we work towards the goals of the Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction (GlobalABC) of a zero-emission, efficient, and resilient building and construction sector, the response to the crisis becomes an investment into the future.
As Mexico is a megadiverse, multicultural country and highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, the Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) approach is being integrated into national instruments to select high-impact adaptation measures that contribute to reducing vulnerability and fulfilling the Paris Agreement.
In October 2015, the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT) – with the support of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, through the Mexican-German Climate Change Alliance – presented the first version of the Methodology for the Prioritization of Adaptation Measures against Climate Change. This document considers the list of criteria contemplated in ENCC 10-20-40 and involves the economic evaluation of each of the contemplated adaptation measures. Since then, it has served as a guide for the development of the State-level Climate Change Programs (PECCs) and Climate Change Adaptation Programs (PACC) in Protected Natural Areas (NPA).
Considering Mexico’s megadiversity, both in climates and ecosystems, the Update of the Methodology for the Prioritization of Adaptation Measures was presented in 2018, with the integration of the EbA approach as its main feature. This approach addresses the country’s potential to reduce its vulnerability, and that of its population, through the sustainable management of resources, the restoration of ecosystems, and the conservation of biodiversity.
The methodology contemplates a participative process at each stage, involving all the actors that benefit from ecosystem services. In addition to functioning as an exercise in transparency and governance, the methodology demonstrates the potential of prioritizing EbA measures at a sectoral level, and even a private sector level, in response to the potential impacts to their productive activities caused by climate change.
Other great benefits of emphasizing the EbA approach in the selection of adaptation measures are the integration of local knowledge and the contribution to disaster risk reduction. Furthermore, EbA projects can be more cost-effective and accessible compared to other gray adaptation measures (construction of infrastructure and/or engineering works); this in turn favors the access to the portfolios of projects applicable for some type of green financing.
Mexico is highly vulnerable to climate change due to its geographical location, topography, and socioeconomic characteristics. Adaptation measures are essential to face the already inevitable effects of climate change, which have the greatest impact on the country’s most vulnerable populations and main productive activities.
According to data provided in the PECC 2014-2018, 13% of municipalities in Mexico present the highest degree of vulnerability to climate change. About 25% of the population lives in irregular settlements and flood risk areas; while droughts in the north of the country are increasingly recurrent and threaten the population’s food security. This translates into the restricted adaptive capacity of a large majority of inhabitants in the face of potential severe hydrometeorological events.
Credits: Shutterstock. Irregular settlements on the Acapulco coast.
The National Regulatory Harmonization Process on Mobility began in 2019 with the aim of designing a legal framework to improve the implementation of Mexico’s national and international legal obligations regarding mobility and other cross-cutting agendas.
On March 23, 2020, the “Open Parliament: Right to Mobility” event was held under the umbrella of the House of Representative´s Constitutional Matters Commission. In the event, Román Meyer Falcón, the Minister of Agricultural, Territorial and Urban Development (SEDATU), presented the results of the Regulatory Mobility Diagnostic.
Credits: News Report. Román Meyer Falcón, minister of SEDATU.
This Diagnostic is part of the National Regulatory Harmonization Process on Mobility, in which the Ministry of the Interior (SEGOB), the Mexican Office for Agrarian, Land and Urban Development (SEDATU), and the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT) joined efforts with the projects “Mexican-German Climate Change Alliance” and “Climate Protection in the Mexican Urban Policy (CiClim)”, implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU).
The final document is the result of an extensive consultation and research process in which more than 600 people participated from the public, private, civil society, and academic sectors. The process included seven regional working groups (see Table in Spanish), one with the private sector, and another with experts from all over the country. Remote participation was also used to collect proposals from stakeholders interested in mobility.
Credits: Luis Paz-SEDATU. Regional working groups.
The Diagnostic aims to take apart the complex legal network involved in mobility by exploring the regulations relevant to Mexico. In this way, opportunity areas will be identified by diverse governmental departments. In essence, the study is based on the relationship between mobility and three crucial pillars: human rights, climate change, and civic participation.
In the same way, it explains the intersection between legal frameworks and other transversal agendas, such as public health, urban development and land-use planning, and climate change adaptation and mitigation. Thus, the Diagnostic identifies the General Law on Climate Change (LGCC) as the first legal instrument to recognize the importance of mobility to climate change and the environment since the transportation “element” is the activity that contributes most to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. As a law, the LGCC divides power between the three levels of government and the different country authorities to implement public policies and climate change mitigation programs that address the need to achieve sustainable mobility in Mexico.
Credits: Sedatu
This year, World Water Day puts the spotlight on climate change. We must find sustainable water solutions to adapt to the worrying reality of our most valuable resource.
The project City Lab Saltillo is working alongside representatives of all interested groups in Saltillo (Coahuila, Mexico) intending to increase sustainability in the city’s water sector, thus achieving an appropriate adaptation to climate change. In this context, national and international water management initiatives that have had a positive impact were analyzed. In this article, some of the country’s successful efforts are presented.
In Mexico City, the organization Isla Urbana has implemented rainwater collection systems in the most vulnerable parts of the city in terms of water supply. Thanks to this project, around 25,000 inhabitants have benefited and obtained free access to water without being connected to the municipal water system. Despite the low annual precipitation in Saltillo, rainwater collection could bring about the previously described benefits, especially for the Saltillo community that lacks the adequate availability of water.
Another practice in Mexico City that is worthy of mention is related to the restoration and reuse of water. The large quantity of residual water coming from millions of inhabitants is an excellent source of irrigation and lake-filling water – once it’s been treated. This practice allows for a significant reduction in underground water extraction. In Saltillo, the search is still on for ways to increase the reuse of water from the three municipal plants, with irrigation and industry being potential options.
Credits: Page 24. Irrigation with Treated Water.
Moving on to another city, Monterrey inaugurated the artificial river Paseo Santa Lucía in 2007, using water from the Santa Lucía springs. It is currently the most populated area of public land in the city, offering pleasant views that integrate urbanism perfectly with nature. In Saltillo, this river system would complement their focus on leveraging their green and blue infrastructure and provide additional water storage capacity. Also, it would contribute to better weather in the city and would encourage the Saltillo population to do more outdoor activities.
Credits: Touristic zone. The Artificial River Paseo Santa Lucía.
The examples mentioned above show just a fraction of the possibilities for increasing the availability, storage capacity, and efficiency in water use as a response to climate change. Particularly, World Water Day incites us to reflect and understand that it is possible – and necessary – to do more. Taking this into account, we will team up with our partners to look for the most adequate and high-impact solutions for the Saltillo Water Sector.
The project Financing Energy for Low-Carbon Investment – Cities Advisory Facility (FELICITY) completed an identification and selection round of projects that would receive technical accompaniment in 2019-2020. In this context, the team put together a report that evaluated the results of the process and extracted the lessons learned to improve the following rounds of project identification and inform the work of other preparative project platforms in Mexico, Brazil and China.
To understand and evaluate the FELICITY identification and selection process, as well as the associated achievements and challenges.
To consolidate and evaluate the results of the identification and selection process of FELICITY projects, taking into account the main characteristics of the requests and chosen projects.
To determine the lessons learned and formulate recommendations, not only to improve the selection of FELICITY projects themselves but also how FELICITY can adapt itself to reflect the necessities of cities.
To provide information that can aid the work of other platforms in the preparation of projects and associated initiatives.
Credits: FELICITY, 2019. FELICITY Lines of Work.
In the same way, recommendations were formulated in several areas such as improvement of communication, standardization of the application process, identification of local collaborators, and scheduling of the selection process.
Finally, a more comprehensive range of initiatives was recommended in terms of scope, sectors, and geographic coverage. Thus, the sector that prepares projects could be developed to include a broader range of initiatives that need assistance, which would allow an acceleration of support to scale in cities.
Credits: FELICITY, 2019. Sectorial Distribution of Projects Received in 2019.
Felicity is the initiative implemented by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH; with the support of European Investment Bank (EIB) and the Germany’s Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU), which offers technical assistance and the project preparation focused on low-carbon infrastructure in cities.
For more available information, consult the website GIZ-FELICITY.
Credits: FELICITY, 2019. Publication’s cover
In a novel virtual format, representatives of the International Climate Initiative (IKI) projects in Mexico, alongside their Mexican government counterparts, exchanged knowledge and established links in the fourth exchange workshop, which took place on Thursday 19th March 2020.
Rodolfo Godínez, head of the Coordinating Unit for International Affairs (UCAI) at the Mexican Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT) and Vera Rodenhoff, from Germany’s Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU), highlighted the importance of cooperation between Mexico and Germany in matters of climate change and biodiversity. Subsequently, Jasmin Fraatz, director of the Mexican-German Climate Change Alliance of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, welcomed the 118 online participants and encouraged them to generate exchanges that could optimize their everyday work.
Starting now: 4th International Climate Initiative #IKI networking workshop in Mexico! 🇲🇽 👏 🌱 🌎
In times of Covid-19, our 36 projects & their partners from the Mexican & German Governments meet virtually to share & discuss experiences! 👉 Follow @IKI_Mexico & stay tuned! pic.twitter.com/B1y5AtQP0U
The workshop started with four speakers. First, Yutsil Sangines from the General Directorate of Climate Change Policies (DGPCC) at SEMANART and Andrea Cruz from the National Commission for the Knowledge and Use of Biodiversity (CONABIO) discussed Mexican public policies and government perspectives on climate and biodiversity for 2020.
Next, Philipp Behrens y Vera Rodenhoff from the BMU talked about the cooperation opportunities between IKI and the Mexican government for achieving the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), as well as collaborative projections between Mexico and Germany on the topics of climate change and biodiversity.
Afterwards, there was a panel discussion in which Mexican and German government representatives addressed two main questions: How has IKI supported the implementation and ambition raising of the NDC and the National Biodiversity Strategy of Mexico (ENBioMex)? And: What are the expectations regarding the collaboration with IKI projects in the future? Participating in the exercise were the Ministries of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT); Agriculture and Rural Development (SADER); Agricultural, Territorial and Urban Development (SEDATU); and Tourism (SECTUR); the National Commission for the Knowledge and Use of Biodiversity (CONABIO); the National Commission of Natural Protected Areas (CONANP); the National Institute of Ecology and Climate Change (INECC); and the BMU representing the German government.
After the exchange, Claudia Kirschning, IKI interface advisor, gave an overview of the IKI interface in Mexico, explaining that 36 projects are currently being implemented in the country (20 related to mitigation, 8 to biodiversity, 4 to adaptation, and 4 REDD+ projects). In addition, 20 implementing organizations and 32 Mexican government counterparts are collaborating to achieve climate and biodiversity targets. She also highlighted the IKI communication channels, including the IKI Alliance blog, Twitter, and the quarterly newsletter.
Credits: GIZ. Claudia Kirschning (GIZ) presents an infographic of the IKI projects implemented by GIZ.
In the second part of the workshop, IKI project leaders divided into working groups to exchange knowledge and reach agreements that will help support an increased synergy among the different initiatives. The topics covered were: private sector, sustainable urban development, agriculture, adaptation, biodiversity/REDD+, financing, transparency/MRV, and mitigation/energy.
After the plenary session, Jasmin Fraatz thanked attendees for participating in this new digital format and announced that a face-to-face version of the event would take place in the future.
Credits: GIZ. IKI projects implemented by GIZ in Mexico.
The Ministry of Environment of Mexico (SEMARNAT) has signed a commitment to reduce N2O emissions from nitric acid production to a minimum, through implementing appropriate political instruments by the end of 2024.
Nitric acid is used worldwide as a raw product for the manufacturing of artificial fertilizers and explosives. During the manufacturing process, significant amounts of N2O are emitted. This gas is one of the most climate-damaging; 265 times more harmful than CO2. All nitric acid producing plants located in Mexico have an impact on the climate equivalent to the emissions of 200,000 passenger vehicles driven for one year. With a goal to substantially reduce N2O emissions from the production of Nitric Acid worldwide, the Nitric Acid Climate Action Group (NACAG) was initiated by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, and Nuclear Safety; funded through the International Climate Initiative.
Minister Svenja Schulze, “German Federal minister of Environment commended this saying, “We are very glad to welcome Mexico as the first Latin American Country that commits to a climate friendlier nitric acid production. With this important milestone, NACAG gets closer to its goal of transforming a whole sector”.
Following this decision they have identified three nitric acid production plants in Mexico that can switch to climate-friendly operation with funds from the Nitric Acid Climate Action Group (NACAG). A total of EUR 4 to 5 million is available for the conversion to N2O abatement technology, capable of reducing up to 98% of the N2O emissions of a plant.
Mexico’s commitment represents an important milestone in NACAG’s achievements in the Latin American Region. It also contributes to Mexico’s efforts towards fulfilling the climate targets set in the framework of the Paris Agreement.
Traditional knowledge about the observation of the natural environment is deeply entrenched in the Mayan communities of the Yucatan Peninsula. These ancestral observations inform the decisions of communities in southern Yucatan about the annual agricultural cycle, in a process called Xook K’iin (“the day count”). Throughout January, farmers take note of climate conditions and types of insects and birds, and they observe their behavior; according to parameters passed down through generations, they can decide if it will rain soon, if the season will be abundant, and how long it will last. This allows them to decide how much to sow and what kind of seeds to use.
On February 19th, the 2020 Xook K’iin workshop from the Chacsinkín region took place, where representatives from 6 communities met up to share observations, discussing implications and deciding what will happen in the region during this current agricultural cycle. Men and women participated in the discussion process, filling in an observations grid at their worktables, which was then presented at the plenary session in the Mayan language.
Like many regional meetings, the Xook K’iin workshop ended with a ceremony to thank the ancestors for helping them to produce accurate observations and make good decisions.
The IKI IBA project was invited this year to observe the Xook K’iin as part of a collaboration led by the Guardianes de las Semillas (Guardians of the Seeds) in the south of the Yucatan, an organization dedicated to conserving the cultural and biodiversity values of the Mayan cornfields in the region.
Home refrigeration and air conditioning contribute to the global warming of the planet. This is due to the fact that these appliances contain refrigerant chemical compounds called Hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFC) and Hydrofluorocarbons (HFC). HFCs were considered an alternative to HCFCs, which were ozone-depleting substances (ODS).
While HFCs do not contribute to the Ozone Depletion Potential (ODP), these gases have high Global Warming Potential (GWP), meaning their use actively contributes to the worsening of this phenomenon. In Mexico, the national consumption of HFC has increased by an annual rate of 14.5% in the period from 2007 to 2017, going from 12.75 million tons ofcarbon dioxide equivalent(MtCO2e) to 49.43 MtCO2e. The increase in HFC is directly linked to production increase in the following sectors:
The planet’s rising temperature has meant that conserving food, medicine, and other perishables – as well as maintaining human comfort – have become critical necessities. For this reason, an additional increase to refrigeration consumption in the next few years is inevitable. This also means that the refrigeration sector is directly linked to several Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
With the intention of decreasing the consumption of HFCs, the Mexican government has adopted and developed several public policy instruments, and the Montreal Protocol Unit of the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT), with the support of the project Sustainable and climate-friendly Phase-out of Ozone Depleting Substances (SPODS) of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, developed the National Diagnosis for the Mitigation of HFC Emissions. In addition, in November 2019, a planning workshop was held for the socialization of the Kigali Amendment and for the HFC Reduction Plan.
The diagnosis identifies mitigation actions for each one of the sectors that consume HFC. The majority are actions that involve replacing HFCs with low-GWP alternatives such as hydrocarbons and mixtures of Hydrofluoroolefins (HFO). For example, they suggest using R-600a (isobutane) in the domestic refrigeration sector, while for the commercial sector, they recommend R-290 (propane). The document also highlights the importance of implementing the recovery, recycling, and destruction of refrigerating gases.
As its primary outcome, the study proposes 11 mitigation measures that are feasible in the Mexican sectors of HFC consumption. These measures are aligned with the Kigali Amendment and can be included as part of Mexico’s conditional NDCs and contribute to the fulfillment of several SDGs. One example of the suggested measures is the substitution of HCFC-22 and R-410A with alternatives such as R-32 (difluoromethane) during the period of 2020 – 2045. It is estimated that this measure has a mitigation potential of 1.2tCO2e per substituted device, with a cost of $500 USD per device.
Making sure that these actions can be taken to an implementation phase will depend on the commitment of the government, private sector, and society itself when buying refrigeration systems that contain natural refrigerants. You can consult the diagnosis yourself to find out more details about the measures and suggestions for HFC mitigation.
With the intention of encouraging the involvement of new actors with interest in the Mexican Emissions Trading System (ETS), and in the context of the recent launch of the ETS Pilot Program on January 1, 2020, the GIZ project Preparation of an Emissions Trading System in Mexico (SiCEM) is conducting diffusion and skill development activities about the ETS for the academic sector.
On the 26th of February 2020, students from the National Polytechnic Institute (IPN) and the Mexico City campus of the Monterrey Institute of Technology (TEC) were invited to participate in the final of the inter-university tournament ¡Hasta el Tope! (“To the brim!”). This tournament aimed to familiarize university students with key concepts of an Emissions Trading System (ETS ) using the board game ¡Hasta el Tope! developed by the SiCEM project.
The tournament was made up of three rounds. The students and professors from the participating universities were responsible for the organization of the first two rounds. The Head of the Environmental Engineering Degree at IPN, the TEC Student Society of Sustainable Engineering (IDeaS), and the student organization Verde ITAM from the Autonomous Technological Institute of Mexico (ITAM) were the facilitators of the tournament. The final round took place at the Mexican GIZ installations, and Ricardo Reyes from the IPN won first place in the Tournament.
Commenting on her experience in the tournament, Paola Carrasco, finalist from the TEC, said that university students today are very dynamic and learn through games. She asserted that, as a student, she has often observed that what is taught in the classroom is neither practiced, nor reflected in the real world. That’s what interested her about a board game that could mimic the functioning of one of the key instruments for climate policies in Mexico. Meanwhile, Luis Antonio Cano, IPN finalist, thinks it vital that these kinds of instruments communicate to university students in an entertaining way, especially since they can provide a better panorama of the country’s environmental policies for future graduates.
