The Mexican proposal to create a Global Fund to Fight Climate Change Fund (Green) is not intended to replace, remove or replace the Kyoto Protocol, but give it more strength, dynamism and generate more action in every country in the world, said Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources, Eng. Juan Rafael Elvira Quesada.

He noted that the Green Fund aim is to expand the participation of all countries that carry out actions to promote clean development as well as to support, financially and technologically, global warming mitigation and adaptation measures. A first fund would be at least one billion dollars.

In press conference, the Secretary recalled that the creation of this fund was a proposal put forward by President Felipe Calderón, during the Americas and the Caribbean-European Union Fifth Summit , which took place in Lima, Peru, and reiterated that they will raise visibility in all international forums, since the challenge is to design a mechanism to cope with the need to implement measures for mitigation and adaptation.

He explained that the current financing system is not sufficient to confront a global challenge of the scale of climate change, since there are a number of funds that are insufficient in scope by the amount of money mobilized, or, in their governance scheme, thus a mechanism that gives financial stability and sustenance is rquired.

Contributions to the Green Fund, he said, would be based on the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities, taking into account the ratio of emissions of a country in total emissions, emissions of greenhouse gases per capita, and the Domestic Gross Productper capita.

This, the official said, would allow developed countries to provide the most significant resources of this mechanism, as well as emerging economies would not be limited only to withdraw their contributions, but would have the incentive to use resources according to their abilities to mitigate emissions.

The least developed countries, he added, would benefit by receiving targeted support to mitigation and adaptation, without having to make large sums, as they are nations that have contributed little to the emission of gases into the atmosphere.

Juan Rafael Elvira Quesada said that the proposal by the Green Fund would not be subject to the creation of new international bureaucracy, as they seek to build on existing schemes, as are the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank.

For his part, Undersecretary of Planning and Environmental Policy, Fernando Tudela Abad, explained that the Green Fund has four specific objectives: to encourage mitigation actions; support adaptation to the adverse effects of climate change, promote the transfer and dissemination of technologies, and help to sustain financially, the new global climate regime.

He said that currently the only alternative to the Kyoto Protocol who have access to developing countries is the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), which is operating reasonably, but presents insurmountable constraints in its design.

He explained that the CDM allows surpluses offset emissions in developing countries, but does not allow expanding the scale of the overall mitigation, i.e is based on that the only countries that have obligations are developed countries and when they exceed the emissions, they can balance them through reductions achieved by projects in developing countries.

Finally, he indicated that what the Fund seeks Green is leaving the outline of donations or assistance, and finding a stable pattern of contributions that are not put in a period of crisis to another, that is predictable and growth potential.