On March 30, 2022, Gabriela Niño, technical advisor of the Mexican-German Climate Change Alliance, implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, accompanied by the National Commission of Compliance (CONACOM), carried out the forum “International Cooperation on Climate Financing Between Mexico and Germany“.
In his opening speech, Ernesto Infante, coordinator of the Public Compliance & ESG Committee, pointed out the economic and commercial importance between Mexico and Germany, as well as the parallel interests between these two countries regarding issues such as transparency, corruption, accountability and intersectoral communication in government.
Later, Gabriela Niño mentioned that the main objective of GIZ Mexico is to provide technical assistance within the framework of alliances, agreements and international governance in accordance with international agendas–specifically, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda and the Paris Agreement, as well as the development of digital tools, and the development of capacities and transmission of knowledge.
In this sense, Gabriela explained that help would be provided in the adoption of a National Climate Change Policy through Mexico’s climate change adaptation and mitigation commitments; intersectoral communication of the government’s different levels; the acceleration in the use of sustainable energies; creating resilient infrastructure; the integration of the private sector, and the development of a post-COVID-19 recovery plan.
Finally, it was mentioned that the climate financing agenda has been taking place in Mexico since 2015, as a result of the international rapprochement between financial and environmental sectors. Thus, GIZ Mexico, in coordination with the Association of Mexican Banks (ABM) and other associations that bring together various financial sectors, have worked on several green finance issues, including the analysis of the sensitivity of bank portfolios and the green bonds market; how far the Mexican government is prepared to engage in climate financing; workshops on climate risks and green taxonomies for the banking sector in Mexico; the socialization of climate change risk information , and the benefits of an adequate financial policy.
Rewatch the event
A few years ago, removing a retaining wall that blocked waves, and instead restoring the dune’s native vegetation as a measure to prevent coastal erosion, might have sounded unlikely. However, the Moon Palace Group in Quintana Roo has understood that nature itself is the best ally for reducing climate change vulnerability.
This ecosystem-based adaptation measure (EbA) began in 2019 with the technical support of the project Adaptation to Climate Change in the Tourism Sector (ADAPTUR) of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP Resilience).
To date, the commitment of the hotel group through the Environmental Management Department remains strong; despite the health and economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, they have made progress in:
The removal of 280 linear metres of retaining wall that separated the hotel area from the beach.
The transformation of 5,000 square meters of exotic grass gardens to their natural state: sagassum was removed and a sandy coastal dune was recovered, with native species of plants that provide stability to the coastline.
The reforestation of 1.8 kilometres of coastal dune with varied and stratified species.
Constant monitoring of the effectiveness of actions and technical exchange with experts.
The plants used are not only adapted to the climate and soil, but also keep the beach stable, where they are not present, erosion continues and reduces the areas for recreational use.
In March 2022, ADAPTUR coordinated a technical visit to Moon Palace facilities and an experience exchange session with another important hotel group, who have also initiated coastal dune restoration efforts in the Mexican Caribbean.
This case study is an inspiring example and demonstrates that the private sector can improve its operation in the market and at the same time achieve the climate resilience of a region.
Mexico ranks second in Latin America in the production of Electronic Waste (E-Waste) with 1.1 million tonnes per year according to the latest available official data, representing a serious environmental and health problem due to the presence of heavy metals and Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) that can significantly affect socio-environmental systems.
RAECO: The Comprehensive Sustainable Consumption App
With the aim of reducing the environmental and health effects of the consumption culture and E-Wastes’ poor management, the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, hand in hand with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), created a mobile application that allows users to consolidate a sustainable consumption culture through its different features.
RAECO’s main feature is to be a national geolocation platform for E-Waste collection centres, a quality it shares with its official online platform, in which you can also find blog posts regarding electronics recycling and environmental education. In addition, it is an interactive application where users can add repair centres and events, such as recycling campaigns in their areas.
The “Recycle, Repair and Share” section gives its users the ability to explore different infographics on sustainable consumption, circular economy and repair shops. Meanwhile, the “Responsible Consumption” segment allows the consultation of materials referring to
innovations in environmentally sustainable, critical and responsible consumption. Finally, RAECO has an “Educational Section”, where anyone will have the opportunity to learn the most important things about circular economy, sustainable consumption and POPs.
RAECO proves to be a mobile application whose integral composition enables the materialisation of a new culture of sustainable consumption and solidarity economic systems.
The Future with RAECO
RAECO is built to accommodate all types of audiences, due to its extensive content and capabilities. It works as an excellent introduction for young or inexperienced audiences, as well as a sustainable consumption tool for committed audiences.
Finally, RAECO presents an exceptional opportunity to take advantage of the synergies between private, public and civil society sectors, to contribute and build a new responsible and community-based perspective of technological consumption and waste management that will impact local, national and international well-being.
Download RAECO and start today your commitment to a sustainable future!
This March, more than 80 officials from Mexico’s states responded to the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT) call and were trained in the use and promotion of the Subnational Climate Action Monitoring System (SIAT-Subnational).
The system was built with the support of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ Mexico) GmbH, and its objective is to measure, report and evaluate government climate action efforts implemented in the country, both adaptation to climate change and mitigation of greenhouse gases (GHG). By tracking the efforts on the matter, each official will be able to contribute and access the subnational governments’ technical knowledge regarding climate action.
Through the SIAT-Subnational, climate and environmental policy tasks throughout the country will benefit from an updated, and dynamic repository of the subnational administrations contributions to national and international objectives to address the climate crisis. Likewise, it leads to the establishment of a cost-effectiveness reference framework that enables the entire Federation to qualify, modify and replicate the different policies implemented.
At the subnational level, the system facilitates the creation of a good practices network for common problems, encouraging key actors to share their innovations, improve their implementation processes and nurture methodologically standardised learning throughout the country.
Finally, the training and use of the system are also part of a significant victory for citizens, who now have access to an updated, robust, methodologically uniform, and official tool to monitor public actions that seeks to transcend administrations.
All of these makes the training a milestone in the construction of comprehensive instruments aimed at achieving the climate, environmental and social commitments adopted both within the country through all levels of government, as well as with the international community and future generations.
La infraestructura verde, entendida como un sistema de infraestructura urbana que fortalece a los socioecosistemas para hacer frente al cambio climático, a través de la implementación de iniciativas de planeación, gestión y diseño multifuncionales que abordan diversas escalas. Se constituye por redes que integran estrategias y proyectos basados en la naturaleza para proveer servicios ecosistémicos y múltiples beneficios, es una acción concreta que las ciudades pueden adoptar para hacer frente al cambio climático.
Agavario en Mérida, Yucatán
Las soluciones de infraestructura verde pueden agruparse en cuatro ejes:
Agua. En este eje se incluyen elementos que aportan a la gestión del ciclo hídrico a través del aprovechamiento, captación, infiltración, tratamiento o retención del agua. Son especialmente relevantes para evitar encharcamientos e inundaciones y la disponibilidad de agua.
Incluye soluciones como jardines filtrantes, cunetas verdes, presas filtrantes, biodigestores, drenaje pluvial, humedales semi artificiales o artificiales, pavimentos permeables y pozos de absorción o infiltración.
Biodiversidad. En el que se incluyen los espacios naturales y seminaturales que conservan o restituyen características del ecosistema en el que se inscriben las ciudades, como los bosques urbanos, los ríos, el arbolado, jardines y huertos urbanos.
Movilidad. Incluye elementos que promueven la movilidad no motorizada o gestión de la movilidad motorizada, como ciclovías, corredores peatonales, banquetas más amplias, bahías de carga, zonas de transporte público, etc.
Espacio Público. Incluye elementos que pueden integrarse en las áreas, espacios abiertos o predios de los asentamientos humanos destinados al uso, disfrute o aprovechamiento colectivo de acceso generalizado y libre tránsito, como es mobiliario, luminarias sustentables, pavimentos permeables y elementos de sombreado.
Pero ¿qué solución es mejor? ¿cuál es más costo-efectiva? ¿cuál genera más beneficios adicionales?
Con esta herramienta se podrás estimar de manera cualitativa y cuantitativa, los beneficios que tienen estas distintas soluciones tanto para el cambio climático como otros co-beneficios sociales, económicos y ambientales.
Te invitamos a descargarla, conocerla y aplicarla.
Esquema de los beneficios de la infraestructura verde, agrupada en los 4 ejes
The Biodiversity Finance Initiative (BIOFIN) of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has the objective of increasing and improving the efficiency of resource allocation for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, mobilising funding from different sources. Currently, the initiative has a financing solution plan that encompasses the private and public sectors at the federal and state levels, the financial sector, and the interaction between biodiversity and climate change.
For the private and social sectors, BIOFIN has developed the Bioeconomy Strategy, a financing solution for biodiversity conservation that promotes productive projects that depend on, and positively impact biodiversity. These business models are mainly found in the agricultural, forestry, fishing, and tourism sectors, and have at the core of their development the communities that safeguard natural capital. Thus, this strategy is aligned with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and is linked to the institution’s comprehensive solutions.
To meet the demand for specialised financing, the strategy has created the Bioeconomy Acceleration Fund (FAB), together with the Nuup Platform. This platform finances and develops business capacities allowing them to save resources in their internal processes, improve their volume of operation and access or consolidate themselves in high value-added markets.
In 2020, the FAB invited thirteen companies to participate in a call for the promotion of financing solutions at the local level. Among those selected was CAFECOL A.C., an organization that promotes diversified shade-grown coffee produced under agroecological practices as a complementary strategy to conserve cloud forests in Mexico, focusing its activities on the state of Veracruz.
CAFECOL originated in the National Institute of Ecology A.C. (INECOL) as a spinoff that emerged from a research-action project on the evaluation of biodiversity and environmental services of Mexican coffee plantations. CAFECOL emerged as a civil association that, through its value chain programme and its OIKOS Integral Quality® certification, based on quality, traceability, and transparency, promoted for more than 10 years the capitalisation of the productive sector through good cultivation, harvesting, and post-harvest practices, in order to access high-value national and international markets.
CAFECOL has identified high-value market niches for coffee producers in Europe, Canada, Japan and an important network of national coffee roasters in tune with sustainability, quality, and fair payment to producers. However, one of the main problems of the model, undertaken from the capacities of a civil organisation, is the producers’ limited financial capacities to stockpile or maintain inventories to take advantage of high-value markets. On the contrary, the extensive financial capacities in the conventional market of buyers or intermediaries, mainly for the purchase of non-value-added coffee fruits, represent an easy solution for producers, even though the prices and benefits are very limited.
With the support of BIOFIN, CAFECOL worked to consolidate its value chain programme, which proved to be a financially sustainable social impact undertaking, heading towards a new initiative within the field of social economy. This has been promoted with the Café Cooperativo project, established more than ten years ago with around 180 collaborating producers; it lays the financial and governance bases for the growth and inclusion of producers who are willing to join the new cooperative company.
The Bioeconomy Acceleration Fund and Cafecol, through Café Cooperativo, have created a revolving stock seed fund that will finance the producers’ harvests before the season, generating confidence and increasing participation. The fund will ensure that sustainable practices are competitive in the market. In addition, the revolving and co-responsibility element of the fund will allow its sustainability over time and will increase as new producers who recognise the socioeconomic and environmental benefits of being a member, join the programme.
This is the case of Jorge Müller, a producer from Totutla, Veracruz who produces shade-grown coffee under an agroecological approach that fosters forest conservation, but who requires concessional financing to harvest, ferment and dry the coffee for added value.
In Ixhuatlán del Café, also in Veracruz, Roberto and his family have been harvesting shade-grown coffee for decades. Recently, they joined Cafecol’s small coffee growers programme, allowing them to harvest high-quality coffee. In their community, they have become pioneers in the development of agroecological practices, since then, other members have joined.
Cafecol, with its technical capabilities, receives coffee samples from producers at different stages of processing and analyses them in the laboratory of the Biomimic Scientific and Technological Cluster, at the Institute of Ecology in Xalapa. It thus advises and issues recommendations to enhance the production processes and guides producers in the improvement of crop and post-harvest management.
As a central feature of their model, the BIOFIN Initiative includes in the FAB, projects that can prove the intentional impacts on biodiversity. For this collaboration, Cafecol has conducted a plant structure sampling for the shade-grown coffee plots.
Another producer who works with Cafecol is Josias Oltehua and his family, who live in Nuevo Progreso, a community in the Zongolica mountains. Since joining the programme, they have managed to increase the quality of their production and access high value-added markets such as specialised roasters and specialty restaurants in Mexico City.
Check out the video: Fair Opportunities for Small Farmers in Mexico | Global Ideas
This is how the FAB is supporting the acceleration of bioeconomy companies and ventures, fast becoming a key instrument to cover the gap that exists in the market to finance these types of projects. Currently, the FAB is undergoing a redesign stage, restructuring to include co-investments and co-financing from all types of sources.
To learn more about the FAB and its criteria and examples, you can visit: https://nuup.co/fab/
This book, the first publication of its kind in Latin America, integrates different multidisciplinary views on the national and international perspectives of the ETS and Mexican climate policy. Likewise, it includes the legal frameworks and design perspectives as well as other issues related to the climate agenda.
As part of their work with SEMARNAT, SiCEM collaborated in this project with the Mora Institute and the Springer publishing house to develop knowledge on the ETS and its components. The book includes the reflections and perspectives of 20 co-authors from various public and private universities in Mexico and other countries, throughout fourteen chapters divided into three parts.
The incorporation of the academic sector into the discussion promotes a greater understanding of ETS and facilitates understanding its relevance to society. Each text, idea and reflection contribute to strengthening dialogue and informed discussion, aspects that GIZ is very proud to be able to support.
During 2022, Mexico’s ETS will begin transitioning to its operational phase. Thus, the book is intended to favour its continuous improvement through the lessons learned, both nationally and in other jurisdictions.
The SiCEM project will initiate a strategy to disseminate the book and will continue to facilitate dialogue among different sectors of society with the aim of expanding knowledge of the ETS in Mexico and around the world.
If you would like to receive more information on this subject, please contact us at: Comercio.Emisiones-MX@giz.de
We must create an environment that encourages investment in nature. Recognising the importance that the loss of biodiversity represents for the financial system, the Bank of Mexico and the Center for Latin American Monetary Studies (CEMLA) organised the conference “Biodiversity and Environmental Challenges for the Financial System” from November 30 to December 2.
During the conferences, the dependence of the financial sector on natural capital was greatly highlighted. During the fifth panel, “Success Cases and Opportunities in Financing Land Use, Sustainable Agriculture and Reforestation” Patricia Moles, specialist in Green Finance of the Bank of Mexico, acted as moderator.
Andrew Mitchel, founder and director of Global Canopy, mentioned that there is a lack of interest in agriculture on behalf of the financing areas; however, he stressed that without it, great economic problems would be generated. Regarding financing for this sector, he stated: “To change from a negative climate scenario to a positive one, investment from the private sector is necessary.”
Paulina Campos, director of the GIZ Mexico Biodiversity Programme, stated that, despite the fact that in certain regions of Mexico “there is a high investment potential to reduce water stress; the main challenge is that farmers do not have access to credits, nor do they know the procedure to obtain them.” Consequently, she mentioned that work is being done from the biodiversity programme to support farmers to access credits for irrigation systems. She concluded by assuring that these types of initiatives within the financial sector have a great positive impact when companies have a long-term plan in a given region and understand that the problem is systemic, and that they can play an important regional role regarding sustainability.
To conclude, working on clear taxonomies for biodiversity investments is essential. This will provide companies and investors with certainty about what is being financed. For this, the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) has provided a framework for assessing impacts on nature.
All the forums held at this conference are recorded on Banxico’s YouTube channel.
One of the key components to consolidate a sustainable financial system is the adoption of reference frameworks for the efficient disclosure of information on environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors. At the Green Finance Consultative Council’s (CCFV) Sustainable Finance Mx 21 forum on December 7, the constitution of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) Mexico Consortium was officially announced; it seeks to promote better integration and disclosure of climate change-related financial risks.
Juan Carlos Belausteguigoitia, President of the Consortium, and Alejandro Díaz de León, Governor of Banco de México, agreed on the importance of implementing the TCFD’s recommendations to consolidate alternatives with higher growth and profitability. Thus, as companies that support and implement the recommendations of the TCFD, Manuel Romo, CEO of Citibanamex and Sergio Méndez, General Director of de BlackRock Mexico, assure that the TCFD Mexico Consortium will help many companies to move towards a low carbon economy.
Undoubtedly, the TCFD recommendations have become an obligatory task for companies to learn about climate adaptation and mitigation activities; however, due to their complexity, it is important that a transparent path be provided to achieve it and, ultimately, as Michael Bloomberg, founder of de Bloomberg LP and president of the TCFD stated: “With the support of leaders and experts in business and finance, we can build a more sustainable and resilient economy in Mexico and around the world.”
One of the key components to consolidate a sustainable financial system is the adoption of reference frameworks for the efficient disclosure of ESG information. In this space, the constitution of the TCFD Mexico Consortium was officially announced, an effort led by financial, business and academic sectors in coordination with international cooperation, aiming to promote the adoption and integration of the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD).
Initiatives like this are necessary to improve the country’s economic competitiveness and, in the words of Satoshi Ikeda, director of Sustainable Finance at the Japan Financial Services Agency (JFSA), collaboration between companies and finance will increase with the creation of the Consortium–as happened in Japan.
TCFD Mexico Video Launch on Youtube Channel
Within the series “Introduction and Implementation Workshops of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures” (TCFD), on December 1, the fourth “Climate Risk Quantification” workshop took place. On this occasion, Juan Carlos Belausteguigoitia, president of the TCFD Mexico Consortium, gave the welcome remarks and celebrated the successfully conclusion of the 2021 workshops.
The training for this workshop was provided by Phillip Mettenheimer, director of Financial Services at Oliver Wyman, who mentioned that using climate scenarios within companies facilitates the understanding and prevention of future situations; that is, it provides them with resilience and robustness. In the same vein, he mentioned that “each climate scenario represents a potential future with a complex set of social, political and economic decisions.”
As an example of companies that are already applying these recommendations and designing climate scenarios, Katia García Ulloa from Sustainability and Analysis of Environmental, Social and Climate Risks at CitiBanamex, stated that the financial group has a sustainable strategy for 2050, stating: “Through our strategy, we aim to become the world leader in financing the transition to a more sustainable economy.”
Ulloa shared the lessons learned by Citi in the implementation of climate scenarios and mentioned that there have been great challenges due to lack of information in the country. However, she said: “We are already understanding what information we must request from our clients in order to have the appropriate inputs to improve our analysis.” Despite the fact that, for now, there are no material changes, the specialist assured that in reality, slight changes are already noticeable and will increase over time.
The series of workshops, developed in conjunction with the 2030 Agenda Working Group, GIZ Mexico, and the Green Finance Advisory Council (CCFV),with the support of the British Embassy in Mexico, is being taught virtually and open to all public. The next workshop will be held on 26.01.22. Follow the TCFD Mexico Consortium on Twitter and YouTube to stay tuned for all future events.
The second edition of the Green and Inclusive Financing Forum, organised by GIZ Mexico, took place on September 23 and 24 2021. This virtual forum brought together leaders who formulate financing projects with representatives of public and private organisations from Mexico and the surrounding region, in order to generate a multi-stakeholder meeting and dialogue space. With the participation of 48 speakers from around the world, the forum aimed to promote a critical analysis of the key aspects of sustainable finance and a practical application of existing tools and methodologies.
Within the framework of this event, the discussion “Bridging the Gap in Project Financing” took place, in which five women panellists exchanged their knowledge and experiences on the subject. In particular, Alexandra Linden, Director of the Financing Energy for Low-Carbon Investment – Cities Advisory Facility (FELICITY), shared some of the lessons learned and future scenarios in the face of the global crisis.
Graphic report of the Conversation “Closing the gap in project financing”, Pinkfish, 2021.
With a view to a sustainable recovery, the FELICITY programme accompanies and advises low-carbon infrastructure projects, acting as a bridge between the latter and financial intermediaries. In the Virtual Forum, an overview was given of the two programmes that FELICITY accompanies in Mexico City and the municipality of Naucalpan de Juárez.
Alexandra Linden and Mara Eichinger during the conversation “Closing the gap in project financing”, FELICITY, 2021.
We share a summary of this financing meeting in Spanish and English.
You can consult the official page of the 2021 Financing Forum and the repository with the reports and presentations of each paper, as well as learn more about the key aspects of sustainable finance and its practical application in each of the presentations and discussions that took place on the two days of the 2021 Forum.
On November 17 and 19, the course on Forest Carbon Capture Projects took place, aiming to generate a greater understanding of this topic and allowing its relevance to be identified within an Emissions Trading System (ETS) by encouraging the reduction of emissions in unregulated sectors.
The GIZSiCEM project and the 2030 Agenda Working Group on Climate Change organised the course, which focused on showing the challenges and opportunities currently presented by these projects in the national and global context. Specialists from the World Resources Institute imparted the training.
Over the two sessions, participants discussed the status of forestry projects within Mexico as well as the environmental and social co-benefits they provide. The validation and verification of projects of this type were also addressed, based on the provisions of the Forestry Protocol for Mexico of the Climate Action Reserve (CAR). Thus, more than 100 attendees– including verifiers and the private sector –were able to learn in detail about the importance of validation and verification for project development. Likewise, they were able to learn about the process behind this type of project, the documentation necessary and the requirements to become a verifier.
Finally, an analysis was carried out of the processes that make up a forest carbon capture project, emphasising that–although the main objective of these projects is the reduction of emissions and the conservation of biodiversity–it is necessary to keep the communities that own the the land in mind, taking advantage of their social organisation and, above all, favouring their empowerment.
During the sessions, the importance of verifying these projects was reiterated, inviting the attendees to replicate what they learned within their companies. They were also invited to consider the opportunity to be trained to become verifiers, given their relevance within the voluntary and regulated carbon markets.
Sesión 2. Curso: “Proyectos de Captura de Carbono Forestal”. Preparación de un Sistema de Comercio de Emisiones en México (SiCEM). GIZ México
