CEI
INDEPENDENT EXTERNAL CONSULTINGLenders' Engineer Services
Lenders' Engineer Services
Since 2022, Libra has served as an Independent External Consultant (IEC) to the Baja California State Finance Secretariat and the North American Development Bank (NADBank).
Its main function is to advise on the review, monitoring and preparation of reports that guarantee that the resources from the financing are applied exclusively to the works selected by the State, ensuring that these comply with the applicable regulations, generate the expected benefits and maintain the functionality of the infrastructure throughout its useful life.
The CEI is responsible for verifying compliance with Baja California's sustainable financing objectives, as well as with the principles and guidelines for sustainable bonds established in the Sustainability Framework. These principles are based on four core components: the use of resources, the project selection and evaluation process, fund management, and the monitoring and reporting of results.
To this end, various services are carried out, including confirming land ownership and required permits, reviewing compliance with executive projects, validating construction progress through regular visits, issuing monthly and quarterly reports, monitoring performance indicators, and tracking the use of financing resources, among others.
Independent Technical Consulting for Sustainable Infrastructure
Libra acts as an independent technical consultant for sustainable bond issuers, infrastructure funds, and investors requiring objective verification of the technical and environmental performance of their projects. Our independence is not just a statement—it is the foundation of our mandate.
Sustainable capital markets require independent technical verification. Not every firm can provide it with genuine credibility.
The growth of green bonds, sustainable bonds, and ESG debt instruments in Mexico has generated an increasing demand for independent technical verification: someone who is not the issuer, not the builder, and has no financial interest in the outcome of the project, but who has the technical capacity to assess whether the financed projects actually meet the stated eligibility criteria.
Libra fills that role. We are an engineering firm with 30 years of experience in various types of projects financed by these instruments—water, sanitation, renewable energy, and sustainable urban infrastructure. We evaluate using our own technical criteria, not generic checklists.
What exactly do we do,
and for whom?
This service is aimed at three types of clients:
For governments issuing sustainable bonds:
Continuous monitoring of the use of resources raised under green or sustainable bond frameworks. Verification that financed projects meet the eligibility criteria stated in the issuance framework. Preparation of impact reports for investors, including verifiable technical indicators such as liters per second of water produced, tons of CO₂ avoided, or megawatts of installed renewable capacity. Coordination with external verifiers and rating agencies when required by the framework.
For infrastructure funds and institutional investors:
Independent technical due diligence prior to investment-assessment of the project's technical feasibility, analysis of execution risks, review of EPC contracts and design specifications. Technical monitoring during construction with periodic reports to the investor. Evaluation of post-construction operational performance against the parameters declared in the project. Early identification of technical deviations that could affect financial return or compliance with ESG criteria.
For project developers seeking access to green financing:
Project eligibility assessment under international frameworks-ICMA Green Bond Principles, EU Sustainable Finance Taxonomy, and applicable Mexican national frameworks. Structuring of impact indicators and reporting mechanisms required by capital markets. Technical support during the certification process or second opinion.
The only state-level sustainable bond program in Mexico with active independent technical verification.
In 2022, the Government of the State of Baja California designated Libra as Lender's Engineer - Independent External Consultant (IEC) - for its Sustainable Bond Program: a financing framework designed to channel capital towards green infrastructure projects in the state.
Our mandate includes verifying that the resources raised are used exclusively for eligible projects according to the issuance framework, technical monitoring of the progress and performance of the funded projects, preparation of impact reports for bondholders, and coordination with the state government's technical teams and the program's external verifiers.
This active commission - ongoing since 2022 - is the most direct reference to our ability to operate at the intersection of infrastructure engineering and sustainable capital markets.
The real risk in sustainable infrastructure is not always financial. Sometimes it is technical.
A sustainable bond financing a water or energy project is only as sound as the project it finances. The most frequent risks affecting returns and ESG performance in these projects are not market risks, but technical risks: designs that are not adapted to the local operating context, EPC contractors that change specifications without the owner's authorization, systems that operate below their stated capacity, or projects that fail to meet the impact indicators promised to investors.
An independent technical consultant with real experience in the same types of projects is the protective layer that transforms a well-structured financial instrument into a technically sound investment.
WHAT SETS US APART
Libra is not a financial consultancy that happened to learn about infrastructure. We are civil engineers with 30 years of experience building water and energy projects who learned about sustainable capital markets because our projects required them. In international practice, the role we play is known as Lender's Engineer: the independent technical consultant who acts on behalf of the lender, not the issuer, not the builder - to verify that the project performs as advertised. That is precisely our role in the Baja California Sustainable Bond Program.
That sequence matters. When we evaluate a desalination project or a solar plant for an investor, we do so with the same technical criteria we would use if we were building it ourselves, because we have built equivalent projects. We don't evaluate with generic ESG checklists. We evaluate with engineering judgment.
Our independence is structurally guaranteed: we are not builders, we are not financiers, and we have no stake in the projects we verify. Our sole interest is that the project operates as advertised.
What investors ask us most often
¿Qué diferencia a un consultor técnico independiente de un verificador o second opinion provider?
A verifier or second opinion provider assesses the bond issuance framework—that is, whether the eligible project categories are consistent with international standards. An independent technical consultant evaluates the specific projects financed with those resources—whether the actual project technically meets the stated specifications. These are complementary, not equivalent, roles. Libra operates in the latter role.
¿Con qué frecuencia emiten reportes?
For active monitoring engagements, we issue quarterly progress reports and a consolidated annual impact report. The frequency can be adjusted according to the requirements of the issuance framework or the investor.
¿Pueden actuar como consultor técnico en proyectos fuera de Baja California?
Yes. Our experience in hydraulic and energy infrastructure covers Northwest Mexico, and we have the capacity to undertake projects in other regions of the country depending on the type of project.
¿Qué tipos de proyectos pueden verificar técnicamente?
Drinking water and sanitation infrastructure, desalination plants, water conveyance and distribution systems, photovoltaic solar energy projects, BESS storage systems, and sustainable urban infrastructure projects.
¿Estructurando un instrumento de deuda sostenible o evaluando una inversión en infraestructura verde en México?
Podemos actuar como su consultor técnico independiente — desde el due diligence previo a la inversión hasta el monitoreo durante construcción y operación.