Tag: acción climática

Climate change is one of the biggest challenges we face today, and addressing it requires the collaboration of all actors and sectors. Therefore, fostering policy dialogue, effective communication and knowledge management are key to generating synergies and sharing the best ways to address this global challenge.

 

In order to strengthen cooperative dialogue, foster the exchange of experiences between Mexico and Germany and promote knowledge management, the Mexican-German Climate Change Alliance, implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, works hand in hand with the Government of Mexico to communicate and raise awareness on the issue and to promote informed and inclusive climate action. In addition, its Interface role for IKI projects in Mexico helps share best practices for climate change and biodiversity projects in the country.

We invite you to learn more about the efforts to strengthen the cooperative dialogue driven by the Mexican-German Climate Change Alliance. Click on the image below:

 

 

Ante la gravedad de los problemas ambientales como el cambio climático, la pérdida de biodiversidad y la limitada disponibilidad de recursos que se requieren para mantener el nivel de actividad económica, es fundamental comenzar a sentar las bases para la transición hacia un sistema económico que además de ofrecer opciones de crecimiento y desarrollo a corto y mediano plazo, también permita la protección de los sistemas naturales de los que depende el bienestar de la población a largo plazo.

Mientras que en los últimos 50 años la población mundial se ha duplicado, la extracción de recursos se ha triplicado, alcanzando 12.2 toneladas anuales per cápita en 2017. Con los patrones actuales de producción y consumo se estima que para el 2050 se duplicará la extracción de recursos, lo que representará una enorme presión para el balance de los ecosistemas.

Hoja de Ruta para una economía circular

Como parte de los esfuerzos por impulsar un uso más eficiente de recursos, y la circularidad en los sistemas productivos del estado, la Deutsche Gesell­schaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH (Cooperación Alemana al Desarrollo Sustentable) a través del proyecto Iniciativa Eficiencia de Recursos y Acción Climática (IREK II) cooperó junto con el Gobierno de Guanajuato a través de la Secretaría de Desarrollo Económico Sustentable (SDES) y la Secretaría de Medio Ambiente y Ordenamiento Territorial (SMAOT) para preparar la hoja de ruta – “Guanajuato Circular 2050: Eficiencia de Recursos y Economía Circular”.  Este documento presenta la visión del gobierno Estatal para lograr sistemas productivos que permitan mantener y recuperar el valor de los recursos a lo largo todo su ciclo de vida de los productos, y cuidar el equilibrio de los ciclos biológicos.

Relevance

In addition to being one of the first states to lay the foundations for moving towards more efficient and circular production models, an innovative aspect of the Guanajuato Circular 2050 document is that it seeks to do so in a sectoral manner, identifying the main subsectors based on their contribution to the local Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which allows specific strategies to be established for each one.

The objective is to foster communication based on trust between the public and private sectors regarding the specific conditions of each productive subsector, and to develop action plans, indicators and sectoral regulations that encourage the efficient use of resources, sustainable production and consumption. This limits the degradation of ecosystems and ensures the availability of vital resources for future generations.

Consult the document “Guanajuato Circular 2050: Resource Efficiency and Circular Economy” by clicking on the image below.

The document can also be downloaded from the virtual library of the Ministry of Environment and Territorial Planning: https://smaot.guanajuato.gob.mx/sitio/biblioteca-en-linea

Mobilising finance is key to addressing climate change and moving towards low-carbon and resilient economies. These efforts require multi-stakeholder and multi-sector collaboration that include youth, who are contributing to increasing the resilience of their communities by proposing innovative solutions, leading climate action and driving change for the sustainable future we all want to build.

Considering the importance of their inclusion, as part of the Festival of Green and Inclusive Finance 2022 (FFVI), the Working Group on Sustainable, Green and Climate Finance (GT-FIN SVC) of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH and the Tecnológico de Monterrey launched the national call “Youth in Action for Green Finance“. It aimed to create a space for dialogue for four youth projects to share their initiatives and achievements, and discuss the opportunities and challenges they face in financing the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Agreement.

The four innovative projects selected from the call for proposals were presented during the “Youth in Action for Green Finance” session on the third day of the FFVI, where in addition to presenting their projects, the panellists engaged in a discussion about the central role of youth in driving green and inclusive finance, the impact of their projects in promoting the greening of the financial system, social inclusion and climate ambition. One thing that unites these projects, as Daisy Álvarez pointed out, is that they seek “holistic solutions, which consider all possible approaches to sustainable development”.

From left to right: Daniela Carreón of EFT Verde; Ivan Mendoza from SMAR Jñatjo’o; Emiliano Reyes, Technical Advisor of GIZ Mexico; Graciela Rivera from EnerYOU and Daisy Álvarez from Building green and sustainable spaces for all / © Antonio Herrera, 2022.

Below are the projects that participated in the FFVI:

EFT Verde – Daniela Carreón

ETT Verde proposes an investment fund initiative made up of a diverse portfolio of shares, bonds and commodities that seek to match the performance of an index, in this case of sustainable and socially responsible companies. Its goal is to generate a common heritage, a plurality of investments representing sustainable society where individual returns are established according to collective results. This academic initiative signals a real opportunity for the financial sector to take climate action.

Daniela Carreón from EFT Verde during the Green and Inclusive Financing Festival 2022 / © Antonio Herrera, 2022.

EnerYOU: Women for Sustainability Fellowship – Graciela Rivera

The Women for Sustainability Scholarship (MXS Scholarship) is a co-investment initiative driven by the EdTech startup, EnerYOU, to reduce the gaps between knowledge, education and professionalisation, as well as to strengthen the labour inclusion of women in the energy and sustainability sector. Through professionalisation and knowledge creation, they will be able to contribute to climate action solutions that improve the planet and the communities in which they operate.

Graciela Rivera from EnerYOU during the Green and Inclusive Financing Festival 2022 / © Antonio Herrera, 2022.

Mazahua High Yield Maize System. SMAR Jñatjo’o – Ivan Mendoza

SMAR Jñatjo’o seeks to connect the Mazahua community with ethical and profitable livelihood opportunities through the fusion of traditional knowledge and technology, with the aim of slowing soil erosion through ethical and sustainable agricultural processes. This project highlights the importance of including communities that face greater vulnerability to climate change, such as indigenous peoples, considering that Mexico’s natural system is sensitive to climate change and is exacerbated by anthropogenic activities such as land use change, mainly due to agricultural activities (ADCOM, 2022).

Iván Mendoza from SMAR Jñatjo during the Green and Inclusive Financing Festival 2022 / © Antonio Herrera, 2022.

Building green and sustainable spaces for all – Daisy Álvarez

The Building Green and Sustainable Spaces for All  project seeks the collaborative retrofitting of public spaces through sustainable structures such as planters with recycled materials, drip irrigation, phytoremediation for urban water and soil, and self-supply of electricity, which respond to and involve communities.

Daisy Álvarez from Building green and sustainable spaces for all during the Green and Inclusive Financing Festival 2022 / © Antonio Herrera, 2022.

Youth are at the centre of climate action and are agents of change seeking to build a sustainable future. Creating spaces for multi-stakeholder dialogue that includes them is crucial to catalyse climate ambition and spread the word about the projects already underway.

We hope that by learning about these projects “more young people will believe and see that it is possible to make gradual progress on climate change issues with high-value projects”, as Ivan Mendoza said. Be part of the green generation!

 

Get to know the factsheet with the FFVI youth projects:

You can check the full session here.

Learn more: Green and Inclusive Financing Festival 2022

 

International cooperation is key to achieving the climate goals of the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda. With the aim of strengthening dialogue and the exchange of good experiences between projects of the International Climate Initiative in Mexico (IKI), the sixth IKI project exchange workshop in Mexico was held on May 19, 2022. Eighty six people participated in the event, from public and social sectors.

The high-level event had the outstanding presence of the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT), the Ministry of Agrarian, Territorial and Urban Development (SEDATU), the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (AGRICULTURA), the Ministry of Treasury and Public Credit (SHCP), the Secretary of the Environment and Territorial Planning of Guanajuato (SMAOT), as well as representatives from the Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUV), the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK) and the German Embassy.

During the opening remarks, SEMARNAT and the German Embassy reiterated their common interest in cooperating within the IKI framework for the protection of the environment, the fight against climate change and the protection of biological diversity. On behalf of the BMWK and BMUV of the German Government, they reaffirmed the priority that climate change represents for the government and the importance of IKI cooperation in Mexico since 2008, in addition to mentioning the priorities of the biodiversity agenda within the Global Biodiversity Framework.

Mexican climate policy

Subsequently, representatives of the Mexican government presented the strategies and priorities of Mexico’s climate and biodiversity policy. On behalf of SEMARNAT, the General Directorate of Policies for Climate Change announced the climatic risks that are already being experienced in Mexico. In addition, he shared various actions that the Mexican government is carrying out to adapt to climate change. He agreed with the German government in putting climate justice at the forefront.

Additionally, various priorities of the climate change agenda were shared by SEDATU and AGRICULTURA, including the cross-cutting link between climate change, territorial planning and the agricultural sector.

Implementation of climate action in the transport sector

The first part of the event concluded with a panel on sustainable transport, the actions that are being developed, the challenges and opportunities to build cities and a prosperous, green and inclusive transport sector.

The panel was integrated by Francisco Ramírez, General Coordinator of Strategic Projects and Alternatives against Climate Change of the National Institute of Ecology and Climate Change (INECC); David Camacho, Director of the Railway Transport Regulatory Agency (ARTF); Roxana Montealegre, Director of Mobility of SEDATU; María Isabel Ortiz Mantilla, head of the SMAOT and President of the General Assembly of the National Association of State Environmental Authorities (ANAAE); and Verena Ommer from the International Climate Initiative Division of the BMWK.

In general, the panel agreed on focusing on sustainable transport, prioritising public transport, electromobility, urban efficiency and thinking about sustainable cities. The importance of working on decarbonisation routes in the transport sector and linking it to planning, public policy and land use planning instruments was emphasised. Additionally, the potential of the railway sector to achieve these purposes was commented, based on the fact that we have a network of more than 23 thousand kilometres that unite the cities of the country.

Exchange between IKI projects

There are 32 IKI projects operating in Mexico, with 21 implementing organisations and 31 implementing counterparts; bilateral projects have a budget of more than 29 million euros. In addition, new IKI projects starting in 2022 were presented, such as the Latin American Climate Asset Disclosure Initiative (LACADI); Transformative Urban Coalitions, Territorial Planning and Financial Innovation to increase Mexico’s resilience to climate change (SAbERES); CitiesAdapt – strengthening adaptation to climate change in cities; and the expansion of climate finance through the financial sector – “30 by 30 Zero”.

The participants carried out an exchange in thematic groups with the aim of identifying future synergies and the need for successful knowledge management within the IKI. They were divided into five thematic groups: cities, biodiversity, energy efficiency, climate commitments and green financing.

As a result of the working groups, there were several convergences in each area. Regarding best practices, the projects highlighted the integration of climate change and biodiversity criteria in cost-benefit analysis and projects from various sectors, as well as intersectoral cooperation and cooperation with various government orders. Regarding the potential, they pointed out the strengthening of monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) systems to have updated and systematised information. Regarding the challenges, they alluded to the articulation, coherence and continuity of the measures implemented by the projects over time and the strengthening of financing models. In terms of knowledge management, they pointed to the documentation and dissemination of lessons learned from implemented projects and the creation of a Community of Practice for the exchange of experiences at the local, national, regional and global levels, transversally.

The International Climate Initiative (IKI) is an important part of the German Government’s international commitments to support the implementation of international climate agreements and the protection of biodiversity. The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK) has been the lead agency of the IKI since 2022. The IKI collaborates with its founding department, the BMUV, and the German Federal Foreign Office.

Check out the sessions’ videos:

6th IKI Workshop: Cooperation within the IKI framework- YouTube

6th IKI Workshop: Mexican Climate Agenda – SEMARNAT – YouTube

6th IKI Workshop: Strategy and priorities of Mexico’s 2022 climate and biodiversity policy – SEDATU – YouTube

6th IKI Workshop: Strategy and priorities of Mexico’s 2022 climate and biodiversity policy – AGRICULTURA – YouTube

Past IKI Workshops in Mexico:

For the German Cooperation for Sustainable Development (GIZ), diversity is a central theme in strengthening international cooperation. Thus, from September 20 to 24, Diversity Week 2021 was celebrated with the slogan “diversity connects”, aiming to create a space for reflection and exchange of ideas on diversity in all its facets.

For this reason, the project Enhancing the Coherence of Climate and Energy Policies in Mexico (CONECC), committed to climate action and diversity, took part with an event called “Diverse Youth for Climate Action”, where young people talked and shared ideas on how to include diverse voices from an intersectional approach in the fight against climate change.

The event began with a presentation on the perspective of youth and diversity, emphasising that the lives of young people are still marked by persistent forms of structural discrimination combined with prejudice. A situation that negatively affects the prospects for social inclusion and well-being of marginalised youth groups, including young people with disabilities, ethnicities, religious minorities, refugees, migrants, women, girls, LGBTTTIQ + youth, indigenous youth, etc.

GIZ / Andrea Medina Pinkfish | Graphic memory presentation “Diverse Youth from GIZ”

On the other hand, it was emphasised that young people are vulnerable, not only due to the economic and health crisis caused by COVID-19, but also because of the climate emergency. The exacerbated effects of the climate crisis place the well-being of young people at risk, besides widening the inequality gap.

Likewise, the actions taken in the present will have repercussions in the future. It is therefore necessary to ensure a significant youth participation in the strategies of adaptation and mitigation to climate change. It is essential to provide tools to strengthen resilience in the face of the current and future climate crises. Young people have proven to be a key ally in the international cooperation for sustainable development, strongly promoting climate action and promoting leadership for a green and inclusive recovery.

The second block of the event comprised a discussion with young leaders in Mexico, including Mitzy Violeta from Milpa Climática, who highlighted the necessity of linking responses to climate change with what is happening in each territory. She also highlighted the importance of the participation of indigenous peoples in climate action to strengthen processes at the local level. Also, Iván Martínez, pre-COP26 delegate, emphasised the importance of being inclusive and incorporating disruptive youth perspectives. Similarly, Jesús Reyes, founding member of the Sustainable Finance Hub, stated that actions addressing climate change will have to consider inequalities in different regions, especially in Latin America, besides including the LGBTTTIQ + community in social dynamics.

GIZ / Andrea Medina Pinkfish | Conversation graphic memory “Diverse youths for climate action”

Around 90 people from all over the world attended the event. We are confident that this event has achieved its goal of opening a conversation on including youth voices in climate action, both locally and internationally.

 

GIZ | Youth participating in the discussion

 

Solving and dealing with the climate crisis will require the joint work of various actors and sectors of the economy. Within these, innovation ecosystems are key communities to provide the conditions that favour the co-creation of disruptive solutions to climate change and the acceleration of efforts to reduce GHG emissions, aiming towards a carbon neutral future.

Technological innovation and entrepreneurship are undoubtedly ways to advance along this route. Innovation is not only considered as part of the set of effective global responses to the mitigation efforts of the following years (IPCC, 2021); it has also been positioned as a driving force to trigger processes of social, economic and environmental transformation. As well as guiding productivity, competitiveness and economic development, it is also a way to promote jobs, the survival and growth of SMEs and local value chains, among other benefits. Innovation is consequently a process to promote sustainable development and green and inclusive growth.

The Enhancing the Coherence of Climate and Energy Policies in Mexico (CONECC) project, within the framework of the series “Conversations for Climate Action and Sustainable Energy” carried out a First Virtual Conversation entitled: “Innovation ecosystems as an impetus for decarbonisation of the energy sector.” The event aimed to provide a digital space for national and international actors who actively take part in innovation ecosystems and in the climate change and energy sector. The aim was to exchange experiences and practices on those critical factors that will use the potential of entrepreneurship to contribute to a carbon-neutral economic growth based on innovation.

 

GIZ / Laguna. Official Conversation Poster

The event began with words of welcome from the coordinator of the Climate Change and Energy Cluster of GIZ Mexico, Philipp Schukat, and the Secretary for Sustainable Development of Querétaro (SEDESU), Marco A. del Prete, who highlighted the joint effort of GIZ and SEDESU to promote local sustainable development and to strengthen innovation ecosystems, for example through a Technological Innovation Hub oriented to climate action in the state (HUBIQ A.C.).

Later, Ariana Gómez, CEO at Technology for Impact, presented a keynote speech in which she provided context on how to approach climate change from an innovation perspective, as well as the challenges and opportunities that it provides. The central panel of the multisectoral conversation included the participation of the Undersecretary of the Environment of Querétaro, Ricardo Torres; Patrice Rimond, President of the Queretaro Energy Cluster and Director of Distribution Systems in Mexico and Central America at Siemens; Ariana Gómez and Morgan Babbs, Chief Innovation Officer at iluméxico. Each participant shared different perspectives regarding how innovation can strengthen business models, decarbonise the energy sector, and deliver social benefits.

The panellists agreed that technology is a tool that helps to achieve Mexican and global climate objectives, without ignoring the multiple social effects that it entails. In addition, the discussion focused its attention on the elements that can enable innovation ecosystems that place a central value proposition in connecting their actors, through the promotion of entrepreneurship, regulatory and public policy conditions, access to financing for innovation, and the participation of companies and research institutions, among other key factors.

GIZ / Carol Mota. Graphic memory of the Conversation “The role of innovation ecosystems to promote a future carbon neutral”.

“The father and mother of innovation are necessity and passion”

Mtra. Ariana Gómez

At CONECC, we believe that technological innovation is a catalyst to achieve sustainable development and climate action, and that innovation ecosystems play a very important role in achieving this goal. The actions of international cooperation for development to promote formats that foster innovation can be firm steps in the move towards a decarbonisation of the energy sector with high local content. We hope that this discussion has created a spark of change in its participants. The discussion reached over 400 views and an attendance of more than 70 people. You can consult the recording in the following link: First Virtual Conversation: Technological innovation for the Decarbonisation of the Energy Sector.

 

 

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).