Climate compatible development at the regional level in Mexico: The Yucatan Peninsula Accord

The Yucatan Peninsula Accord, signed in December 2010 by the states of Campeche, Quintana Roo, and Yucatan, represents Mexico's first sub-national regional climate agreement. The Accord aims to reduce vulnerabilities of local and indigenous populations through a joint low-carbon development scheme consisting of a regional adaptation strategy, a REDD+ programme in the Sian Kaan-Calakmul forest corridor, and a regional climate fund dedicated to scientific research. The document highlights that pooling resources at the sub-national level helped the participating states attract international and national funding that they could not secure individually. Key challenges identified include a lack of climate legal expertise among civil servants and the need to balance regional cooperation with state autonomy.

• The Yucatan Peninsula Accord is the first regional climate agreement at the sub-national level in Mexico, signed in December 2010 by the states of Campeche, Quintana Roo, and Yucatan.
• The Accord focuses on three primary pillars: a regional adaptation strategy, a REDD+ programme, and a regional climate fund.
• The regional climate fund is restricted to financing scientific research on climate change impacts to avoid potential conflicts and power struggles over the allocation of resources for adaptation and mitigation actions.
• The REDD+ initiative targets the Sian Kaan-Calakmul forest corridor, which covers approximately 1.3 million acres and extends 120 kilometres from north to south, aiming to protect biodiversity and local livelihoods through institutional reforms and monitoring.
• The negotiation process was hindered by a lack of climate-specific legal expertise among sub-national civil servants, suggesting that capacity-building in climate law is necessary to expedite such agreements.
• The success of the Accord was dependent on high-level political commitment, specifically the ownership of the initiative by the governors of the three participating states.

APA

Del Villar, L. (2011). Climate compatible development at the regional level in Mexico: The Yucatan Peninsula Accord. Climate and Development Knowledge Network. http://cdkn.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Mexico-InsideStory_cbc2_web1.pdf

Chicago

Del Villar, Liliana. Climate compatible development at the regional level in Mexico: The Yucatan Peninsula Accord. Climate and Development Knowledge Network, 2011. http://cdkn.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Mexico-InsideStory_cbc2_web1.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Del Villar |first1=Liliana |title=Climate compatible development at the regional level in Mexico: The Yucatan Peninsula Accord |publisher=Climate and Development Knowledge Network |date=November 2011 |url=http://cdkn.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Mexico-InsideStory_cbc2_web1.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{delvillar2011climate, author = {Del Villar, Liliana}, title = {{Climate compatible development at the regional level in Mexico: The Yucatan Peninsula Accord}}, institution = {Climate and Development Knowledge Network}, year = {2011}, month = nov, url = {http://cdkn.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Mexico-InsideStory_cbc2_web1.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }