SUSTAINABILITY

Sustainable Energy

A look back at a project and its results.

SETTING THE COURSE FOR THE FUTURE

Project: Sustainable Energy
Commisioned by: German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development 
Partner: Mexican Ministry of Energy (SENER)
Term: 2009–2019

THEN: Energy plays a crucial role in the global challenges of our time, not only in terms of climate change but also areas such as education, health and employment. For a long time, Mexico mainly relied on fossil fuels. In 2013, the Government launched an energy reform, initially focusing on electricity and hydrocarbon. Since 2015, efforts have primarily been devoted to achieving a sustainable power supply. GIZ supported Mexico in implementing the project on behalf of BMZ. It soon became clear that the topic is not gender neutral. Women were thought to have less technical expertise; they were poorly represented and poorly informed. In Mexican households, women make 80 per cent of the purchasing decisions, however, and so decide whether energy is saved or not. The switch to renewable resources therefore also provides a major opportunity to promote women. In order to transform the Mexican market, 135,000 experts on renewable energy are required.
 
NOW: Trained personnel are a key factor in the use of new technologies. The project produced material for women, offered special courses such as training on how to install solar thermal systems and organised childcare. As a result, the gender perspective spread to a traditionally male-dominated area. In addition, the evaluation system SiseviveEcocasa was introduced to promote sustainable house building. By the end of the project, the architectural design and energy and water consumption of 250,000 houses had been assessed. GIZ also helped to develop clean energy certificates, with which bulk energy purchasers can demonstrate that their share of power from renewable energy is in line with what is required. The results achieved by the project also made it attractive for neighbouring countries. Six triangular cooperation arrangements were set up, with Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Colombia, Argentina and Cuba.

 

published in akzente 3/19