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.
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.
With the objective of promoting international learning processes, the Vertically Integrated Climate Policies (VICLIM) program Mexico and Costa Rica promoted a study trip for knowledge exchange, sharing experiences and success stories on actions to combat climate change in a subnational level.
The meeting was held in Mexico, mainly in Jalisco and the capital of the country. The topics addressed were multilevel governance, instruments and local policies for the fulfillment of the respective Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC), as well as climate financing and climate action at local level.
The delegation from Costa Rica was mainly composed of representatives of the Ministry of Environment and Energy (MINAE), Institute for Municipal Development and Advice (IFAM), National Union of Local Governments (UNGL) and representatives responsible for environmental issues in the municipalities of San Ramon, Santa Cruz, Pococi, Quepos, Osa, Oreamuno and Goicochea.
Credits: GIZ. Delegation of Costa Rica and GIZ participants
The event started in Guadalajara, Jalisco, with the Ministry of Environment and Territorial Development (SEMADET) of the State, where the state shared its experience with Jalisco State’s Environmental Protection Fund (FEPAJ) as well as with climate action mainstreaming. During this session both countries identified areas of opportunity in the vertical approval of information, updating it, strengthening and creating alliances between actors, promoting cross-linking of existing regulations to support the projects.
During the second day of the study trip, the Metropolitan Area Development Planning and Management Institute (IMEPLAN) of Guadalajara, presented its governance model and the metropolitan climate change plan. Likewise, during this meeting Project assistance was provided by Information and Communication Technologies for Adaptation to Climate Change (TIC-A) with Arturo Cadena. Subsequently, the exchange continued in Puerto Vallarta, mainly with municipalities of the Intermunicipal Board of the Sierra Occidental and Costa (JISOC), where issues related to public policy, adaptation, biodiversity, agriculture, among others, were addressed.
Credits: GIZ Discussion Table on Energy and Waste, Mexico and Costa Rica
During the third part of the event, attendees were trained in the use of Social Cost-Benefit Analysis Tool for Climate Change Measures. Subsequently, on the fourth day an exchange of experiences on cities and climate change was carried out with the Climate Protection in the Mexican Urban Policy (CiCClim) Program, where participants highlighted the role of cities in combating climate change and the importance of raising public awareness as part of climate action.
On the fourth day of this event, an exchange session was held where both countries presented success stories on financing in projects for the integral management of solid waste. Finally, the visit of the Costa Rica delegation concluded with a meeting with the General Directorate of Climate Change Policies (DGPCC) of the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT) and the Mexican-German Climate Change Alliance program of GIZ. One of the main subjects of this session and possible area of collaboration between the two countries was the work on the Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (MRV) systems of contributions from sub-national levels to national climate goals.
Credits: GIZ. Experience exchange session Mexico and Costa Rica
The event took place from August 19th to 23rd of this year and was mainly driven by the global project of Vertically Integrated Climate Policies (VICLIM) of the Deutsche Gesellchaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH. This program is implemented in five countries, South Africa, Indonesia, Georgia, Costa Rica and Mexico.
Mexico and Germany participate in webinar to present experiences on climate change taxonomy within the framework of a sustainable financing strategy.
Credits: GIZ
On August 1st, 2019, the Agenda 2030 project and the Mexican-German Climate Change Alliance facilitated a dialogue between the European Union and the Brazilian and Mexican financial authorities (SHCP, Bank of Mexico) for the exchange of experiences in the development of a sustainable financial system. During the event, the European experience in elaborating an Action Plan for sustainable financial growth and the development of a taxonomy of green financial instruments was presented. The Mexican authorities shared the public sector’s vision of the need to coordinate national public and private efforts to make the financial system in Mexico greener.
