The Government of Mexico has published a report that quantifies co-benefits from implementing the climate agenda in coordination with the sustainable development agenda in the country.
The report titled, ‘Crunching Numbers: Quantifying the Sustainable Development Co-benefits of Mexico’s Climate Commitments,’ measures priority co-benefits resulting from implementing current and potential commitments in Mexico’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the UNFCCC, arguing that climate action and development policies should be harmonized and integrated because they reinforce each other and achieve more together.
The report quantifies social, economic and environmental co-benefits of climate action in various sectors and their impact for achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. It argues that climate action is a “lever” that enables achievement of the SDGs, and explains that the relationship between sustainable development and climate change goes beyond SDG 13 (climate action).
The study identifies six co-benefits resulting from implementing three current and two potential NDC commitments and their contribution to the SDGs. The NDC commitments analyzed are:
• achieving 43% of electricity generation from clean sources by 2030 (existing NDC);
• achieving a net-zero deforestation rate by 2030 (existing NDC);
• guaranteeing and monitoring the treatment of urban and industrial wastewater in human settlements • larger than 500,000 inhabitants (existing NDC);
• achieving 500,000 electric vehicle sales in Mexico by 2030 (potential NDC); and
• reducing energy demand in the three most energy-intensive industrial sectors, namely cement (1.8%), chemicals (9.6%) and iron and steel (14.7%) by 2030 (potential NDC).
According to the report, implementation of these commitments could result in the following co-benefits: improving livelihoods and community resilience; improved public health; increased food security; improved conditions of water resources; employment creation; and contributing to energy security.
As an example, the report explains that achieving Mexico’s electricity generation NDC goal can catalyze social development through improvements in public health, which can contribute to SDG 3 (good health and well-being) and save USD 2.7 billion between 2019-2030 of funds usually spent to treat air pollution-related diseases.
Understanding and measuring such co-benefits, the report notes, helps identify opportunities to accelerate progress in both agendas, by guiding decision making, avoiding duplication of efforts and reducing implementation costs. Mexico, according to the report, has the institutional capacity to achieve both the Paris Agreement on climate change and the 2030 Agenda if mitigation and adaptation are mainstreamed into development planning.
The report was commissioned by the Mexican Office of the Presidency, with support from the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ). Click HERE to read the full ‘Crunching Numbers: Quantifying the Sustainable Development Co-benefits of Mexico’s Climate Commitments’ report.