WB/Mexico: Strengthening social resilience to climate change

Press Release No:2012/299/LAC

Washington, DC - The World Bank (WB) Board of Executive Directors approved a US$300.75 million Development Policy Loan today to support the institutionalization of policies aimed at strengthening social resilience to extreme situations -- in particular those caused by climate change -- and overcoming them.

To this end, it promotes State-level climate change action planning; disaster risk reduction and the implementation of land development activities, especially at the municipal level; and community-level sustainable forest management.

The initiative focuses in particular on Mexico's neediest and under-served communities, representing the first time the WB develops a program whose central, explicit theme is reducing the social impact, particularly among the most vulnerable, from climate change effects.

Among the objectives of this project is increasing access to relevant information, and the participation of civil society groups in the development of climate change adaptation policies. It also seeks to improve infrastructure risk and service management, and to restore forests, wetlands and other ecosystems that protect the poor from natural disasters and contribute to their well-being.

The loan supports, for example, efforts made by the Federal Government to establish the Regional Climate Change Adaptation Strategy in the Yucatan Peninsula, which includes measures to confront unsustainable tourist growth in coastal areas and protect the habitat of indigenous communities. In total, 3,000 rural indigenous communities across the country will benefit. Moreover, it will increase the land surface covered by climate risk insurance by five percent.

“We recognize Mexico's efforts in promoting a sustainable development that identifies the human dimension as a public policy priority with clear benefits for the most vulnerable,” said Gloria M. Grandolini, World Bank Country Director for Mexico and Colombia. “The country goes one step further to consolidate its reputation for global leadership in terms of climate change adaptation and mitigation, turning this situation into an opportunity for a more sustainable and inclusive social and economic transformation,” she concludes.

The project seeks to better coordinate the priority placed on economic growth and competitiveness with a rational management of natural resources and the environment, stressing the human factor.

The program envisages activities in three areas:

· Long-term State level-guided Climate Change Action Programs through risk management. It creates financing mechanisms and schemes to foster inter-government coordination and collaboration, with different players involved.

· Municipal level-guided disaster risk reduction and land development. It creates financial structures for risk reduction and urban and land development with social and environmental goals in at least 60 municipalities.

· Improved sustainable forest management. It supports public policies and programs that promote community-based forest management and include the participation of citizens in the establishment of public policies. It focuses on the poorest people living in rural areas and indigenous communities earning their living from the forest, while mitigating greenhouse gas emissions produced by deforestation and degradation.

The program seeks to strengthen the capacity to learn, change and adapt to a certain level of stress and impact generated by climate change effects. Thus, it seeks to increase the adaptive capacity of people, communities, and ecosystems, creating new ways to respond, relate to, and recover from a climate change-caused crisis.

The partnership between the World Bank and the Government of Mexico on climate change issues dates from 1990. Through a wide range of instruments and services, the Bank has given advice on public policy development, investments, and financial services such as catastrophe bond issues. It has also facilitated South-South exchange experiences.

There are three responsible institutions for implementing this loan: the Secretary of Social Development (SEDESOL), the Secretary of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries and Food (SAGARPA) and the National Forest Commission (CONAFOR). The Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT) will have a coordination role, which in turn has designated Nacional Financiera (NAFIN) as financial agent.

This loan has a variable interest rate and margin, and the maturity date is on August 15th, 2023.

Contacts:
In Mexico: Fernanda Zavaleta, (5255) 54-80-42-00, fzavaleta@worldbank.org
In Washington: Marcela Sanchez-Bender, (202) 4735863, msanchezbender@worldbank.org