Triangular cooperation between Mexico, the Pacific Alliance and Germany: Regional integration to promote sustainable production and consumption
Project description
Title: Regional fund for the promotion of triangular cooperation in Latin America and the Caribbean – individual measure: Regional integration to promote sustainable production and consumption
Commissioned by: German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)
Countries: Colombia and Peru (recipient countries), Mexico and Chile (partner countries)
Overall term: 2014 to 2017
Context
Resource-conserving production and sustainable consumption are issues that are still substantially more developed in Europe than in Latin America. Some countries are, however, already more advanced. In 2014, for example, Mexico adopted a programme on sustainable production and consumption with the help of a bilateral project carried out by GIZ on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). Chile has also concluded agreements on clean production and set up a public procurement programme that is geared towards sustainability criteria.
During the United Nations Environment Programme conference in Lima in June 2013, Peru and Colombia expressed an interest in cooperating with these two regional trailblazing countries and with Germany. The Regional Integration to Promote Sustainable Production and Consumption Project was launched in October 2014, financed by the Regional Fund for the Promotion of Triangular Cooperation in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Objective
Sustainable production and consumption (including resource-conserving production processes, sustainable procurement policy and corporate responsibility) are increasingly widespread in the Latin American free trade area of the Pacific Alliance.
Approach
Under a triangular cooperation arrangement between Mexico, the Pacific Alliance and Germany, support is given for the design and implementation of national programmes on sustainable production and consumption in the recipient countries. The measure promotes the development of instruments to institute and strengthen agreements on sustainable procurement between the public and private sectors.
In Colombia and Peru, for example, an initial investigation is to be carried out into the current level of sustainability of production, private consumption and public procurement. This will lead to the identification of five products or services where the switch to sustainable procurement could bring about a particularly positive impact on the environment. Such products and services might include paper, road construction, detergents or vehicle fleets. The Mexican Government has already completed this process with German development cooperation support.
The main party involved in Mexico is the Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT), which is working with representatives from the relevant authorities in Colombia and Peru.
The project is promoting cooperation between various public institutions, the private sector and civil society, and encouraging stakeholders to disseminate best practices across the region. The programmes are designed to help the economies of the recipient countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, use resources more efficiently and reduce waste. Furthermore, social responsibility – both on the part of producers and among public and private consumers – is to be enhanced.