This report aims to understand how countries can both maximize financing for development and create an enabling environment for renewable energy investments while generally supporting socioeconomic development, including the local popula tion, and more equitably sharing benefits. To this end, the report completed a com parative analysis of relevant laws and policies in six countries and reviewed literature
of over 150 publications. Furthermore, the team undertook a quantitative analysis of wind developments in Southern Mexico, analyzing their socioeconomic development impacts on the local population. Moreover, the authors did field research in Mexico and conducted over 56 interviews with 70 people from the private, public, and inter national sectors. This report provides recommendations on how to improve the investment climate for renewable energy and wind energy, in particular, through benefit sharing3 and local community engagement. Integrating communities through free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC) or benefit sharing mechanisms is costly—but the cost of not integrating communities and of failed projects is even higher.