New exchange platform for IKI in Mexico

The first IKI networking workshop in Mexico brought together more than 80 participants with the aim of identifying potential for synergies between projects.

In early 2017, the Mexican-German Climate Change Alliance has begun serving as a hub for International Climate Initiative (IKI) projects in Mexico. Around 40 bilateral, regional and global projects are currently being carried out in the country by over 15 implementing organisations. To mark the launch of the new IKI hub, the Mexican-German Climate Change Alliance organised a networking workshop on 6-7 June. It attracted around 80 representatives from IKI projects and their Mexican partner authorities in addition to three representatives from the German Environment Ministry and the IKI programme office.

In his welcoming address, Rodolfo Lacy, Undersecretary at the Mexican Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT), emphasised the importance of Mexican-German cooperation. He referred to results already achieved in the areas of climate change and biodiversity. IKI project implementers and partners then analysed the activities of various IKI projects in the context of Mexico’s current policy priorities for climate change and biodiversity. In his closing address, Juan Carlos Arredondo, Director General for climate policies at SEMARNAT, reaffirmed that all IKI projects are contributing to the implementation of Mexico’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) as well as to effective protected area management. He highlighted the importance of such analyses and underlined that the next step should entail investigating how these projects are contributing to Agenda 2030 as well as other international agendas.

On the second day of the workshop, IKI project implementers worked together to develop a joint knowledge management strategy for their projects in Mexico. An aim of the strategy is to promote cross-sector synergies and to improve exchanges. The IKI project "Mexican-German Climate Change Alliance" is taking care of joint knowledge management at the new IKI hub and regularly provides BMUB with information about issues relevant to the IKI portfolio in Mexico. A new blog that reports on IKI projects in the country, a periodic newsletter and networking workshops will be set up for this purpose.

Link to the blog: http://climate.blue/5991/.