Tag: Energía renovable

Humanity faces three global crises that threaten our survival, development and the conditions of our habitat. These are: the health crisis derived from the SARS-CoV-2 virus pandemic; the economic crisis caused by the slowdown in productive activities and in lifestyles in general, linked to the pandemic and deepening processes of poverty and inequality; and, of course, the climate crisis, expressed by the continuous increase in extreme climatic and meteorological phenomena, and the rises in sea levels, among other manifestations.

The deployment of sustainable energy–energy efficiency and renewable energy–is vital to achieving global efforts to reduce global warming. However, these actions have the potential to generate positive impacts beyond those related to greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation. These additional impacts have been termed ‘co-benefits’. The quantification of social, environmental and economic co-benefits of sustainable energy makes it possible to visualise and identify those dimensions of development impacted and thereby promote agendas to which it contributes to additional purposes, such as social welfare, the reduction of ecological degradation, and green economic growth.

The technical cooperation between Mexico and Germany, through the project Enhancing the Coherence of Climate and Energy Policies in Mexico (CONECC) of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, in coordination with the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT), implemented phase II of the Mexico Co-benefits initiative, called “Co-benefits of sustainable energy: an opportunity to promote well-being and sustainable development in Mexico”, aimed at providing governmental subnational organisations and key actors in Mexico with the capacity to incorporate the concept of co-benefits into their decision-making processes and strategies to promote sustainable energy, through the quantification of co-benefits and the development of narratives that highlight the opportunities and positive impacts derived from each unit of energy saved by energy efficiency measures, or generated through renewable sources, respectively.

Thus, a pilot programme to quantify co-benefits was implemented, with six projects selected for the development of an analysis of their co-benefits. These projects cover a wide spectrum of sustainable energy since they take advantage of different technologies and are applied at different scales and in different sectors. The actions related to the field of renewable energy include the generation of clean energy at the community level without connection to the supply network; distributed generation for government use; and large-scale generation. The actions corresponding to the field of energy efficiency include saving measures implemented in government and private buildings, as well as the component of energy efficiency in wastewater treatment processes. The projects that participated in the pilot are located in five states of the Mexican Republic: Coahuila, Guanajuato, Hidalgo, Tamaulipas and Yucatán. Based on the lessons learned and good practices from this quantification exercise, the initial development of the CO-B MX tool was achieved: Towards a Sustainable Energy Quantification Tool.

It is with great pleasure that we share the results of the pilot programme and the co-benefit quantification tool. The general study outlines the main results, good practices and methodologies for the quantification of co-benefits. Additionally, you can find seven disclosure sheets with the specific results of each project. Finally, you will find the link to be able to use the CO-B MX tool.

Click on the logo to access the tool

We hope to inspire readers to continue the legacy of quantifying co-benefits and thus contribute to the deployment of sustainable energy to face the effects of climate change, creating a green future and triggering well-being opportunities for society at the same time.

Through the approach of renewable energy and energy efficiency co-benefits, decision-makers and experts in climate change and energy can use data to communicate the positive effects derived from the deployment of sustainable energy projects. Currently, there are different models and tools to quantify these social, economic and environmental benefits, providing accurate data on the impact of the installation of these technologies, such as the tool International Jobs and Economic Development Impacts (I-JEDI).

GIZ/ The Undersecretary Santiago Creuheras of the SMADSOT and the Mtro. Jonas Russbild director of the CONECC project sharing the welcome messages with the participants.

For this reason, the project Enhancing the Coherence of Climate and Energy Policies in Mexico (CONECC) within the framework of the Virtual Forum “Trends of the Energy Transition in the Face of Global Climate Change: Actions at a Subnational Level” organised by the Secretariat of the Environment, Sustainable Development and Territorial Planning of the state of Puebla (SMADSOT), carried out the “Specialised Training in the Quantification of Social and Economic Sustainable Energy Co-benefits in Mexico”. The training focused on the use of the I-JEDI tool to quantify the socioeconomic co-benefits of renewable energy projects. The aim was to introduce the concept of co-benefits and provide knowledge for the model to be implemented–as well as to familiarise decision makers and experts with its use.

The workshop lasted three days and was attended by 21 people from the subnational, federal, private, and academic public sectors. The training focused on practical modelling exercises for photovoltaic and wind energy projects, with a focus on quantifying the jobs generated and economic impact. Additionally, spaces for dialogue between experts were created, in order to share experiences, good practices and opportunities triggered through the quantification of co-benefits. Importance was placed on these positive impacts reaching the communities where the projects are developed. The participants concluded that the I-JEDI tool could be a basis for local governments to approach the quantification of co-benefits for the socioeconomic development of a region.

At the end of the workshop, the participants were able to distinguish the social, environmental and specifically economic co-benefits, identifying the types of employment: direct, indirect and induced–derived from the different stages of the project such as construction, operation and maintenance. In addition, the participants carried out different simulation exercises to evaluate and strengthen knowledge, as well as the skills acquired at the workshop. The event also fostered a constructive dialogue among the participants, who shared their experiences and perspectives from their different work contexts, enriching the training and the lessons learned during the workshop.

GIZ/ Participants of the specialized training in the I-JEDI employment co-benefits quantification tool

A focus on the social, economic and environmental co-benefits of sustainable energy has been positioned as a tool at a local level, in order to highlight the positive effects of sustainable energy, not only in mitigation and adaptation to climate change, but also in other benefits such as job creation, savings and increased well-being for communities.

This is why, in an alliance between the Deutsche Gesell­schaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH through the project Enhancing the Coherence of Climate and Energy Policies in Mexico (CONECC) together with the Yucatan Government, through the Secretariat of Economic Development and Work (SEFOET) and the Secretariat for Sustainable Development (SDS), the study “Co-benefits: Employment Opportunities and Local Benefits of Community Participation in Renewable Energy Projects in Yucatan was presented. The objective is to provide public policy makers and other relevant stakeholders with methodological tools to quantify the co-benefits of sustainable energy in the state’s social, economic and climate agendas.

At the presentation event, Marita Brömmelmeier, Resident Director of GIZ in Mexico; the Secretary of Sustainable Development, M.I.A. Sayda Rodríguez Gómez and Juan Carlos Vega Milke, SEFOET Undersecretary of Energy, shared welcome messages, acknowledging the effort put into the report, since it contains relevant information to promote compliance with the state’s climate goals, taking into account social opportunities for communities. It was mentioned that the study positions the state as a benchmark on the road to the energy transition, inviting other sectors to join the change and thus reap the benefits generated from future projects.

The director of the CONECC project, Jonas Russbild, reiterated the wish to continue working on the quantification of co-benefits to obtain inputs that trigger social narratives around the implementation of climate policies as tools for local and national development.

The study presented highlights that, under an ambitious scenario of clean energy deployment, Zero Carbon Transition, 247,000 direct, indirect and induced jobs could be created in renewable energy projects, saving 133 billion pesos under a net metering scheme in Yucatán by 2050.

Additionally, Mirelle de Fátima Segovia Martín, from the Energy and Industrial Headquarters of the Under-Secretariat of Energy in Yucatan, commented that for the state, the analysis of the multiple benefits of sustainable energy facilitates the implementation of actions that allow the reinforcement of unity and hand-in-hand work with other state governments in the region and the inclusion of other key actors in the energy transition –as well as obtaining concrete data and transmitting results to enhance the participation of all actors.

Through co-benefits, actions and alliances can be triggered to strengthen local climate action and a people-based energy transition.

To learn more about the results, we invite you to download the complete study:

The presentations used in the event can be consulted through the following links:

GIZ MX / Elaboración Laguna Centro