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| Eduardo Batllori Sampedro, Director of the State Action Program for Climatic Change |
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On December 4, 2010 Yucatan State Governor Yvonne Ortega announced the formation of the State Action Program for Climatic Change, or Programa Estatal de Acción de Cambio Climático (PEACC). The mission of the PEACC is to coordinate policies to understand and mitigate the impact of climatic change throughout the state. The Program also coordinates activities with the states of Campeche and Quintana Roo.
This Offfice is now up and running, and headed by Eduardo Batllori Sampedro. The first set of tasks in the Agenda is the result of a two-year study launched in 2008 between state and federal agencies. The PEACC has a 35 million peso ($3 million USD) budget, and the office to set to begin implementing the recommendations made by various studies already concluded.
“The aim is to conduct coordinated efforts to assess risk and vulnerability that climate change brings, in addition to implemented processes for adapting to these changes that are in line with what might be happening in the coming years,” Mr. Batllori said.
The PEACC is working with CICY, UADY, INIFAP and CINVESTAV. Studies first began in 2005 and have already identified specific action areas, including beach erosion, contamination of specific water sources, and the need to relocated some residential neighborhoods from low-lying areas that already being impacted.
“We have a water pollution problem because there are already specific cases in urban and agricultural areas, where the only way to replenish is precipitation, but as expected drier years, the recharge may decrease,” he said.
There are 15 residential neighborhoods in the municipalities of Progreso, Chuburná and Chelem that are affected.
“Many of the projects [to be implemented in 2011 are designed to] promote interrelationships, such as wetlands preservation, restore areas of natural water replenishment, restoring polluted cenotes,” he said.
In addition to state and federal agencies, the PEACC will work with bona fide NGOs duly authorized by Mexican government agencies to carry out work in Yucatan State, such as Pronatura and The Nature Conservancy Mexico.
With the launching of the PEACC in January 2011, the three state governments of the Yucatan peninsula are at the forefront of proactively combating the impact of climatic changes on human communities.
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