The UK supports Mexico’s path to a low-carbon economy

The Mexico–UK PACT (Partnering for Accelerated Climate Transitions) programme awards grants to fourteen transformational climate action projects

UK PACT is pleased to announce that it has awarded grants to fourteen new, demand-led and innovative projects in Mexico. The projects will receive a share of a total of over £4.5 million funding allocated to the second phase of the Mexico-UK PACT programme aimed at promoting a low-carbon, climate-resilient and inclusive future in Mexico.

The awarded projects respond to the technical assistance and capacity-building priorities of Mexico’s government and focus on the themes that will have the greatest impact in supporting the country achieve its carbon reduction targets.

The portfolio will deliver on shared priorities for tackling climate change identified under the 2019 UK–Mexico Partnership for Sustainable and Inclusive Growth as well as under the COP26 ‘Cancun to Glasgow’ Declaration agreed between Mexico and the United Kingdom in March 2020. Mexico–UK PACT is set to make a strong contribution to support the priority campaigns for the COP26 climate conference, which the UK will host in November 2021, including in developing clean road transport, green finance and nature-based solutions to climate change.

Welcoming the portfolio, Corin Robertson, British Ambassador to Mexico said:

“We are very motivated and inspired by the launching of the new portfolio of projects of UK PACT that support climate action in key priority areas in Mexico. This portfolio is the result of close collaboration between both countries to support Mexico in taking ambitious climate action and build towards a sustainable and inclusive future”.

The organisations leading the fourteen projects and their partners will achieve this by working closely with key government, private sector and civil society beneficiaries at national, state and local levels to build capacity in five sectors: green finance, sustainable mobility, forests and land use, energy and climate policy support.

In the green finance sector, three projects will provide direct support to the efforts of national agencies, sub-national governments and financial institutions to mainstream the domestic use of green finance and understand the impact of climate risk in decision-making. They include:

• A project led by IDOM to develop commercially viable sustainable cities projects by linking local governments with leading banks.

• A project to establish the Mexican Climate Finance Hub as the leading resource for green finance to strengthen the skills and understanding of financial investors, led by Mexico2.

• An initiative to support the efforts of Mexico’s financial regulator to build capacity on climate-related risks, led by the Global Green Growth Institute.

In the sustainable mobility sector, three projects will support the transition to electric mobility, and increased use of sustainable forms of transport:

• A project to analyse the legal, technical and financial requirements of ramping up the use of electric buses in Mexico City, led by Dalberg Advisors.

• A project designed to expand Mexico City’s electric infrastructure network for electric vehicles, led by WRI México.

• A project to work with local governments across Mexico to help them plan and put in place pop-up bike lanes and facilities for pedestrians, thus supporting active mobility, led by Bikencity.
• A project to integrate rail and road freight transport in Mexico City to reduce the sector’s carbon emissions, led by Steer, subject to final agreement.

In the forests and land use sector, UK PACT is funding three projects to develop tools and build capacity to tackle deforestation, promote sustainable land use, and develop nature-based solutions to environmental threats. They include:

• A project designed to strengthen federal and state governments’ use of state-of-the-art tools such as satellite imaging to monitor deforestation, led by Ecometrica.

• A project to reduce greenhouse emissions in six states in Southern Mexico by improving local skills for the sustainable production of forest products like meat, resin and honey, led by Pronatura Sur.

• A project led by eeTestudio to develop a community-led plan to reduce deforestation and improve agricultural productivity in the Central Mexican altiplano, which is particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change.

In the energy sector two projects will support research on how alternative clean fuels can be used in Mexico and assess how to provide remote rural communities with access to low-carbon:

• Led by Centro Mario Molina, an initiative will evaluate the greenhouse gas mitigation potential and economics of green hydrogen and propose a roadmap for its use in Mexico.

• A project to support the development of a sustainable energy access strategy for off-the-grid rural communities, led by Ilumexico. 

In the climate policy support sector, UK PACT has awarded two projects to support Mexico’s government and businesses to develop frameworks and commitments to reduce emissions:

• Led by South Pole Carbon Mexico, a project to help increase climate ambition in the private sector by facilitating the adoption of science-based targets (SBTs) to limit their carbon emissions.

• A project to strengthen and update sub-national climate change legislation and create networks and partnerships that support its implementation, led by Soluciones en Legislación y Política Ambiental.

Projects will each receive grants of between £100,000 and £500,000. The funding was allocated following a rigorous assessment of over 180 applications submitted in response to UK PACT’s second competitive call for proposals in Mexico, which was launched in July 2020.

Since its launch in Mexico in 2018, UK PACT has previously funded 13 projects in climate policy, energy, sustainable mobility, waste and green finance. The new portfolio will build on the success of this first round of Mexico–UK PACT projects.

ENDS

Notes to editors:

Read more details about the UK International Climate Finance. The implementing partners of the second phase of Mexico-UK PACT are:

Forests and land use:

• Ecosistemas Consultoria Integral para Soluciones sustentables (Ecometrica Ltd)
• Pronatura Sur A.C.
• eeTestudio (Espacio entre tiempo estudio SA de CV)

Sustainable mobility:

• Bikencity (Bikencity S.C)
• Dalberg Advisors (Asesores en Desarrollo Dalberg S. de R.L.)
• Centro de Transporte Sustentable de México A.C. (WRI México)
• Steer (Steer Davies & Gleave Limited trading as Steer)

Climate policy support:

• South Pole Carbon Mexico (South Pole Carbon Mexico S. de R.L de C.V.)
• Soluciones en Legislación y Política Ambiental A.C.

Energy:

• Centro Mario Molina (Mario Molina Center for Strategic Studies on Energy and the Environment (CMM))
• ilumexico (Eres Energía Renovable SAPI de CV)

Green finance:

• Global Green Growth Institute
• IDOM INGENIERÍA S.A DE C.V
• MEXICO2 - Plataforma Mexicana de Carbono S. de R.L. de C.V.

The lead organisations responsible for implementing the awarded projects and their partners are: