The Mexican-German NAMA programme
Project description
Title: The Mexican-German NAMA Programme
Commissioned by: Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU)
Country: Mexico
Lead executing agency: Mexican Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT)
Overall term: 2011 to 2015
Context
In August 2009, Mexico formulated its Special Climate Change Program (PECC), in which it described more than 100 activities around the country to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. These should bring a reduction of 51 million tonnes of CO2 or equivalent by the end of 2012 – a six per cent reduction overall, when measured against the current emissions trend in Mexico.
A NAMA (nationally appropriate mitigation action) is a voluntary activity intended to reduce GHG emissions which is carried out by a developing country that is not subject to mitigation commitments under the UNFCCC. A NAMA can be supported by industrialised countries through financing, technology transfer and/or capacity building. The Mexican and German Governments view support for NAMAs as an important means for achieving the goals laid out in the PECC.
Objective
Mexican NAMAs to reduce GHG emissions from residential buildings (new and existing), small and medium enterprises, and the road freight industry have been prepared for large scale implementation and the procurement of international co-financing. Implementation of the NAMAs has begun and a coordinating Mexican NAMA Office has been established.
Approach
The programme is helping its Mexican partners to prepare NAMAs that address emissions in residential buildings (new and existing), small and medium enterprises, and the road freight industry. In each case, the work involves three concurrent areas of activity:
- development of the NAMA concepts (direct and indirect mitigation measures)
- development of financing mechanisms
- development of monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) systems.
Where necessary, pilot projects will be carried out with co-financing to refine the designs and demonstrate their feasibility, or as a practical test of the NAMA concepts and of the financing mechanisms and MRV systems. Besides the preparation of the NAMAs, the programme is also supporting the creation of the NAMA Office, which will coordination activities and promote the development of future NAMAs.
GIZ acts as technical advisor within the programme, and also promotes the international, national and regional transfer of know-how. Its main partners are governmental stakeholders at the federal level:
- Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT)
- Ministry of Energy (SENER)
- Ministry of Transportation (SCT)
- Mexican National Housing Commission (CONAVI)
- National Workers Housing Fund Institute (INFONAVIT)
Important cooperation also takes place with public and private sector actors at other levels. The programme mainly promotes practices intended to produce significant increases in energy efficiency. It also encourages the more widespread use of renewable energy resources as a way of reducing GHG emissions.
Results achieved so far
At the 17th Conference of the Parties (COP 17) in Durban, the Mexican Government presented the document "Supported NAMA for Sustainable Housing in Mexico - Mitigation Actions and Financing Packages". The NAMA for new residential buildings is aimed at extending and expanding the scope of activities that have already been introduced in Mexico (e.g. “Ésta es tu casa” and “Hipoteca Verde”), in order to make the housing sector more ecologically sound.
Unlike previous programmes, which have focused on promoting and measuring the impact of specific technologies, the NAMA takes a holistic view, the so called “whole house approach”. This sets efficiency benchmarks for the total primary energy demand of a building which helps to optimise and integrate inputs from individual measures.
Unlike previous programmes, which have focused on promoting and measuring the impact of specific technologies, the NAMA takes a holistic view, the so called “whole house approach”. This sets efficiency benchmarks for the total primary energy demand of a building which helps to optimise and integrate inputs from individual measures.