When looking for a sustainable energy route and promoting the making of politically effective decisions that generate socio-economic benefits for the country, the following question arises: How can energy efficiency and renewable energy improve the lives of Mexicans?
The co-benefits of climate action can enhance an inclusive energy transition and connect multiple agendas to contribute to sustainable development. It is precisely in this context that “Co-benefits Mexico” of the project Enhancing the Coherence of Climate and Energy Policies in Mexico (CONECC) develops the study Co-benefits of Renewable Energies and Energy Efficiency for Sustainable Development in Mexico in order to connect the socio-economic opportunities of the energy sector to greenhouse gas mitigation strategies.
As part of the research process, dialogue sessions were held in Mexico City in August with more than 80 actors from the public, private, academic and non-governmental sectors at the state and federal levels through the results presentation workshop of the project and during a work meeting on climate-energy convergence in the subnational sphere. The first of these spaces was aimed at presenting the results of the four case studies developed in Baja California Sur, Mexico City, Oaxaca, and Yucatán. The objective was to manage to socialize the results of the studies, generate dialogue on opportunities to enhance the co-benefits at the state and national levels, and obtain feedback to formulate public policy options that enable their use.
On the other hand, during the work meeting, the co-benefits subject was registered as part of a potential climate-energy work agenda with eight state governments; seeking to delimit a route for the local implementation of Co-benefits Mexico. Within the framework of this dialogue, CONECC was also able to discuss: support with the mainstreaming of climate issues in energy policy instruments, subnational carbon budgets, and state hubs for energy innovation.
In October 2019, the CONECC project facilitated a work trip to Berlin with the participation of the Government of the State of Baja California Sur and the Government of the State of Oaxaca. Both were part of the Co-benefits for a Fair Energy Future Conference with the objective of presenting case studies and encouraging international political exchange with representatives from other countries.
Co-benefits Mexico is now in its consolidation phase. The following steps include writing the final report Co-benefits of Renewable Energies and Energy Efficiency for Sustainable Development in Mexico in December 2019, which will reflect the results of the cases and the knowledge acquired throughout the project activities.
Once published, the study will be presented together with the 2030 Agenda project implemented by GIZ and the study Crunching Numbers: Quantifying the Sustainable Development Co-Benefits of Mexico’s Climate Commitments at the beginning of 2020 in a national launching event. Among the next steps are also the participation in bilateral dialogues with state governments and exploring schemes of technical support to their ambitious mitigation agendas through a co-benefits approach.
Co-benefits Mexico has been implemented since 2018 through the project CONECC implemented by GIZ as part of the International Climate Initiative (IKI) on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) in coordination with the Mexican Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT), and in collaboration with the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS) in Potsdam, Germany.
For more information, please contact: gianna-maria.pedot[at]giz.de
