10040388-Consulting Services for Fostering a Just Transition in the Mexican Industrial Sector

The project "Supporting a Just Transition in Mexico" aims to strengthen the capacities of key public, private and civil society actors to design and implement socially just decarbonization processes in strategic sectors of the Mexican economy, with a particular focus in key industrial (incl. industrial parks) and the energy sector. The project is commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and implemented by GIZ, with the Mexican Ministry of Economy (SE) as technical partner. It contributes to the BMZ core theme "Climate and energy", to Mexico's implementation of the Paris Agreement and Agenda 2030 SDGs 13, 9, 7, 5, 16 and 17. Mexico's export-oriented industrial model, the rapid expansion of industrial parks and rising energy demand create pressure and opportunities for low-carbon transformation. Building on the updated climate targets set out in Mexico's Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), the country faces the challenge of turning these commitments into coherent implementation. Regulatory gaps, insufficient technical and financial capacities, and social and gender inequalities still limit progress towards a decarbonised economy. The project responds to these challenges by promoting an integrated approach that combines climate protection, industrial competitiveness and social justice. The overall objective is to strengthen the capacities of key actors to implement just transition processes in strategic sectors of the Mexican economy. To achieve this, the project supports the development of participatory governance frameworks for a just transition. Multistakeholder dialogue formats will foster coordination between federal and subnational authorities, the private sector, financial institutions, workers' representatives and civil society organisations. At the meso and micro levels, the project aims to improve the enabling conditions for the adoption of green technologies by companies and industrial parks in selected sectors. This includes technical and economic feasibility studies, advisory services on energy-efficient and renewable energy solutions, and targeted capacity development for park operators, firms and service providers, with special attention to SMEs and the qualification of women and groups in vulnerable situations for future-oriented jobs. In addition, the project works with public development banks and other financial institutions to align their product portfolios with the needs of companies and park operators investing in green technologies and sustainable infrastructure. Together with these actors, it promotes demand-oriented "just transition finance" instruments that are consistent with Mexico's emerging sustainable finance taxonomy and that can be deployed in and around industrial parks, among other industry sectors. The project also supports the design and implementation of social and gender justice strategies in at least one subnational context. Together with public institutions, private sector actors and social partners, it will pilot mechanisms to identify and mitigate negative social impacts of industrial transformation, and to ensure that women and other groups in vulnerable situations benefit from new economic opportunities. Lessons learned will be documented and shared with key institutions across the country to enable replication in additional industrial parks and regions. By 2028, the project expects that several just transition-oriented policy and regulatory instruments have been adopted; that industrial parks and companies in prioritised sectors have taken investment decisions leading to measurable GHG emission reductions; that financial institutions provide suitable financing instruments for such investments; and that institutions in other regions make use of the experience gained with social and gender justice approaches in the Mexican just transition. The project is implemented from October 2024 to September 2028.