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ePaper created 2015-12-01, 11:30:18 | version 1.43.00
38 akzente 1/15 COMMITMENT CAPITAL: Mexico City POPULATION: 122.3 million1 GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT (GDP): USD 1.3 trillion2 ECONOMIC GROWTH: 1.1 per cent3 HUMAN DEVELOPMENT INDEX RANKING: 71 (out of 187) Source: 1 2 3 World Bank 2013 Mexico United States of America Forenterprisesandenvironment ProjeCt: Mexican-German NAMA Programme Commissioned by: German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety PARTNERS: Mexican ministries of environment, energy, communication and transport, Mexican National Housing Commission, ELECTRIC ENERGY SAVINGS TRUST FUND (FIDE) Overall term: 2011 TO 2015 Mexico’s many small roadside stores are filled with the familiar buzz of old refrigerators. The owners face high electricity bills. Now, thanks to a system developed jointly with GIZ, small entrepreneurs can save both energy and overheads – by seizing the opportunity to replace their old refrigerators, lighting systems and air conditioners with energy-efficient appliances. The special feature of the arrangement is that entrepreneurs are given a 10 per cent price reduction and then pay for new appliances with savings on electricity. Af- ter four years at most, the appliance becomes the property of the business. For entrepre- neurs, the scheme involves a one-off investment that pays for itself. For nature and the environment it means fewer emissions. Mexico Guatemala Belize www.giz.de/mexico loan,’ Garcia explains. In three years those re- payments will cease. ‘Then the fridges will be paid for and we will spend a lot less – and it’s also better for the environment.’ Ernesto Feilbogen from Mexico City co- ordinates the programme for GIZ and knows of many small businesses that have benefited. For example, the barkeeper in Hidalgo who was probably saved from bankruptcy by the electricity savings. Feilbogen remembers how Armando Villalobos, the owner of ‘Las Palo- mas’ bar, told him: ‘Our energy costs were so high we were at risk of going under.’ Today, af- ter replacing his refrigerators, Villalobos saves over one third on electricity bills, equivalent to around 816 euros each year. Huge potential for savings Feilbogen can back up the success stories with hard figures. By the end of 2013, within the space of about a year, almost 6,000 appliances had been upgraded. A system set up by GIZ to measure the reduction in greenhouse gas emis- sions showed that this campaign had pre- vented around 9,000 tonnes of CO₂ emis- sions. ‘The potential for savings is enormous,’ says Feilbogen. As an emerging economy, Mexico has 5.1 million micro, small and me- dium-sized enterprises which lack the capital for investment in modernisation. ‘The country is full of Salvadors and Armandos,’ says Feil- bogen. Germany is supporting Mexico with its climate policy. In 2010, the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Con- servation, Building and Nuclear Safety and its Mexican counterpart set up the Mexican-Ger- man Climate Change Alliance. Since then the country, which has a population of more than 122 million, has set out ambitious climate targets – the most ambitious of any of the world’s emerging economies. In 2012, for ex- ample, Mexico introduced legislation which aims to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 50 per cent by 2050, as measured against the base year 2000. But if the country is actually to achieve these objectives, the instruments for steering, Source: 123