Program to Support the Implementation and Strengthening of the Energy Reform (IADB-ME-L1264)

Countries
  • Mexico
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Financial Institutions
  • Inter-American Development Bank (IADB)
International, regional and national development finance institutions. Many of these banks have a public interest mission, such as poverty reduction.
Project Status
Approved
Stage of the project cycle. Stages vary by development bank and can include: pending, approval, implementation, and closed or completed.
Bank Risk Rating
U
Environmental and social categorization assessed by the development bank as a measure of the planned project’s environmental and social impacts. A higher risk rating may require more due diligence to limit or avoid harm to people and the environment. For example, "A" or "B" are risk categories where "A" represents the highest amount of risk. Results will include projects that specifically recorded a rating, all other projects are marked ‘U’ for "Undisclosed."
Voting Date
Mar 12, 2018
Date when project documentation and funding is reviewed by the Board for consideration and approval. Some development banks will state a "board date" or "decision date." When funding approval is obtained, the legal documents are accepted and signed, the implementation phase begins.
Borrower
Mexico Energy Secretary (SENER)
A public entity (government or state-owned) provided with funds or financial support to manage and/or implement a project.
Sectors
  • Energy
  • Law and Government
The service or industry focus of the investment. A project can have several sectors.
Investment Type(s)
Loan
The categories of the bank investment: loan, grant, guarantee, technical assistance, advisory services, equity and fund.
Investment Amount (USD)
$ 600.00 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Primary Source

Original disclosure @ IADB website

Updated in EWS Apr 17, 2018

Disclosed by Bank Jan 13, 2017


Contribute Information
Can you contribute information about this project?
Contact the EWS Team

Project Description
If provided by the financial institution, the Early Warning System Team writes a short summary describing the purported development objective of the project and project components. Review the complete project documentation for a detailed description.

The IDB is providing this policy-based loan to "contribute to a secure energy supply and to the sustainability of the Mexican energy sector."

Specifically, the project will support energy sector regulation, information generation, planning, operation, and coordination; support an increase in natural gas exploration and extraction, as well as the expansion of the national gas pipeline network; aim to improve the efficiency of the electric power generation and distribution system; implementation of energy efficiency measures; and aims to increase access to electricity service in rural communities and marginalized urban areas. 

No specific project sites have been identified, but the results matrix includes expansion of technical assistance for the energy sector to 750 new municipalities, aproximately 5,000 kilometers of new pipelines, and benchmarks in relation to expansion of natural gas and renewable energy.

Early Warning System Project Analysis
For a project with severe or irreversible impacts to local community and natural resources, the Early Warning System Team may conduct a thorough analysis regarding its potential impacts to human and environmental rights.

Despite the clear and direct impacts that the energy reform will have on the environment, the IDB has labelled this loan as support for clean energy and environmental sustainability. The Bank has also failed to trigger the appropriate safeguards regime to respond to the diversity of impacts and depth of risks posed by implementation of the energy reform.

According to the IDB, the project is classified with risk rating B13 and does not require any specific analysis of environmental impacts since the $600 million loan will not “finance physical investments; its objective is to support the process of the implementation of energy related policies.” Yet, at the same time, the IDB expects these projects to occur as a result: one indicator used to measure the project’s results is the expansion of the national gas pipeline network. 

Furthermore, the 2013 Energy Reform undermines the right to prior consultation and consent, forces landowners to cede their lands, and will be implemented in conjunction with militarized security forces to protect energy investments, all of which represent potential human rights violations. Notably, over half of Mexican land is owned collectively, either under ejidos (land granted to farmers and laborers after the Mexican Revolution) or comunidades (indigenous groups). According to the reform, these mostly marginalized communities will have to negotiate land issues directly with private, energy-sector investors. To confront these threats, human rights and environmental organizations have come together to highlight the risks posed by the energy reform.

Mexico's new legal framework establishes that hydrocarbon exploration and extraction, as well the electric power industry, are a public interest. Therefore, these activities will have preference over any other land use or activity. The new law does not recognize the right of affected communities to refuse these types of projects. How communities’ rights will be enforced within this context remains to be seen.

Furthermore, the new legal framework includes a definition of “clean” energy sources that is so expansive that it is virtually meaningless and fails to assess the environmental impact of the technologies that it promotes. Alongside solar and other broadly accepted renewable sources, the definition includes large-scale hydroelectric power, nuclear energy, high-efficiency combined cycle technologies for natural gas, and the “efficient” use of fossil fuels (carbon capture and storage). Also worrisome is the promotion of non-conventional hydrocarbon exploitation through fracking, a practice that involves serious, adverse impacts on water, the environment, and human health. Groups in Mexico are alarmed that natural (shale) gas is being considered as a positive alternative to other fossil fuels and also viewed as a strategy to reduce GHG emissions.

Some of the loan objectives undoubtedly deserve immediate attention, such as the urgency to provide coverage to the 450,000 families that lack access to electricity and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the energy sector. However, other objectives raise serious concerns, as does the way in which these objectives will be met. It is already commonplace for renewable energy projects to be implemented in communities that have not been properly informed and consulted. Indigenous groups throughout Mexico have testified about violations of their free, prior, and informed consultation and consent processes regarding projects such as wind farms (Oaxaca), solar projects (Yucatan), and gas pipelines (Sonora); these represent but a few of the energy projects marred by ongoing conflicts in the country. The question remains, how will the Mexican government ensure proper consultation and community engagement when the powers granted to private firms under this new legal framework condone overstepping the rights of communities?

This analysis was originally published to the CIEL blog titled "$600 Million Loan from Inter-American Development Bank will Support Controversial Energy Reform in Mexico," available at http://www.ciel.org/inter-american-development-bank-controversial-energy-reform-mexico/

Investment Description
Here you can find a list of individual development financial institutions that finance the project.

The IDB states this programatic policy-based loan is the first operation in a series comprised of two independent and technically connected loans. The IDB directs the public to document CS-3633-1 (however no document currently disclosed has that designation).


Contact Information
This section aims to support the local communities and local CSO to get to know which stakeholders are involved in a project with their roles and responsibilities. If available, there may be a complaint office for the respective bank which operates independently to receive and determine violations in policy and practice. Independent Accountability Mechanisms receive and respond to complaints. Most Independent Accountability Mechanisms offer two functions for addressing complaints: dispute resolution and compliance review.

ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM OF IADB

The Independent Consultation and Investigation Mechanism (MICI) is the independent complaint mechanism and fact-finding body for people who have been or are likely to be adversely affected by an Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) or Inter-American Investment Corporation (IIC)-funded project. If you submit a complaint to MICI, they may assist you in addressing the problems you raised through a dispute-resolution process with those implementing the project and/or through an investigation to assess whether the IDB or IIC is following its own policies for preventing or mitigating harm to people or the environment. You can submit a complaint by sending an email to MICI@iadb.org. You can learn more about the MICI and how to file a complaint at http://www.iadb.org/en/mici/mici,1752.html (in English) or http://www.iadb.org/es/mici/mici,1752.html (Spanish).

How it works

How it works