There are 127 Brazilian cities signatories to the Global Covenant of Mayors, encompassing a population of over 68 million people
Brazil now has a National Climate Action Strategy supported by the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy, presented on June 20 at an event attended by authorities, local managers, representatives of national institutions, and the European Union.
The National Climate Action Strategy in Brazil includes measures to support Brazilian cities and municipalities, members of the Global Covenant of Mayors, in taking concrete climate actions over the next two years. This aims to contribute to fulfilling the goals of the Paris Agreement on climate change, limiting the increase in the world’s average temperature to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
The presentation of Brazil’s strategy, moderated by the executive director of the Brazilian Association of Municipalities (ABM), Eduardo Tadeu, took place during the “Pact in Action Week: Latin American Cities for Climate.” In addition to Brazil, strategies from Ecuador, Mexico, Chile, Colombia, Peru, and Argentina were also presented.
The European Union will contribute over five million euros by 2025 to support actions in the Latin American region. The funding is directed towards supporting the signatory cities of the Global Covenant of Mayors, the largest network of local governments committed to fighting climate change, representing a combined population of 243 million people worldwide.
In 2022, Brazil’s national strategy will initially focus on raising awareness among signatory local governments to create conditions for establishing the foundations for the effective implementation of the Covenant’s commitments. Currently, there are more than 500 signatory cities of GCoM in Latin America, with 127 of them being Brazilian, encompassing a population of over 68 million people.
Ignácio Ibáñez, the Ambassador of the European Union Delegation to Brazil, outlined the objectives of the strategies as “promoting opportunities for exchange with European cities and partners to leverage experiences, learning, best practices, and, where possible, business related to climate action.” He added, “Today, we celebrate the launch of the National Strategy of the Covenant in Brazil, which, after a collaborative process of development and validation between national and subnational actors, will be executed over the next two years with the support of the European Union.”
Rodrigo Corradi, Deputy Executive Secretary of the Network of Local Governments for Sustainability (ICLEI South America), presented the actions planned for Brazilian municipalities.
As challenges and objectives on the national level, Corradi listed two items: mobilizing cities and supporting progress towards a sustainable journey – through activities dedicated to enhancing technical support for municipalities to advance climate commitments. Between 2022 and 2024, activities such as awareness, training, implementation, and communication will be carried out. “Awareness and training are necessary for us to advance within this process, but implementation and communication are essential for us to deepen this cycle,” Corradi evaluated.
As part of awareness activities, workshops for engagement and for Amazonian cities were considered. For training, the idea is to conduct a training cycle with mayors and technical teams, along with mentoring for the development and financing of solar energy projects. For implementation activities, plans include monitoring medium and small signatory cities, as well as the preparation of greenhouse gas emissions inventories. Finally, for communication, there is an event planned to disseminate results with the recognition of medals.
Ambassador Ignácio Ibáñez pointed out that in Brazil, the most emitting cities are located in the Legal Amazon. Thus, according to Ibáñez, an opportunity is to address climate change with a special focus on the Amazon region. “In Brazil, as well as in Peru and Colombia, we will dedicate specific efforts to engage directly with Amazonian cities,” concluded Ibáñez.
LED technology
The city of Serra Talhada/PE joined the Covenant in 2018, during Mayor Luciano Duque’s tenure, and since then, the network of local leaders has been working with other cities in Latin America and around the globe. As the current Mayor of Serra Talhada, Márcia Conrado, stated, they began to talk about “environmental policy, aligned with the Paris Agreement. We conducted the first greenhouse gas emissions inventory, and through it, we gained a holistic understanding of our municipality’s climate situation. In this way, we also demonstrated our commitment to the Covenant. From that moment on, Serra Talhada began to be seen with a different perspective, not only by the administration but by the entire population. It also becomes a reference for the entire city in the region, with a lot of dedication and boldness,” she said.
The city has already replaced more than 2000 conventional normal bulbs with LED bulbs, and by December, they expect the entire city’s park to be converted. The technology of traffic lights has also been changed to LED technology,” Conrado added. Another action of this administration was afforestation, which received prominence and originated in the Municipal Urban Afforestation Plan. The first investment was in native trees, in addition to afforesting squares and idle spaces in our city. The Trees of Serra program has been effective, both in its implementation and as a highlight recognized by the Covenant for Best Practices in Serra Talhada.
Revamping transportation
The city of Santos has the sixth-best HDI in Brazil, making quality of life one of the city’s assets, as stated by Rogério Santos, Mayor of Santos. “We are the 16th per capita GDP nationally, that is, a city with very good consumption capacity. We are the first city in Brazil in the basic sanitation ranking, that is, an important stage already completed,” he added.
One of Santos’ projects is about creative villages. “We offer training courses in various areas, such as gastronomy, music, dance, handicrafts, technology, a form of economic inclusion in the creative economy of our city, especially for people with greater social vulnerability,” the mayor added.
It is one of the cities that proportionally has the highest number of cars in Brazil, with one car for every 2.98 inhabitants. Santos added: “It’s something very heavy, very difficult. We want to invest in quality and sustainable public transport. The use of biodiesel. We need support for this revamping of public transport in the city of Santos because we already have the Light Rail Vehicle (VLT) circulating in the city of Santos and in full expansion,” Santos concluded.
Valentina Falkenstein, Coordinator of the Covenant Global Helpdesk for the Americas, highlighted the participation of the two cities in the event. “Today we saw two clear examples of two very different cities, of different sizes, different regions, and different contexts and realities. Both are an inspiration for other cities to take concrete measures to respond to this climate crisis we are experiencing now,” she said.
She concluded: “We will continue to support the efforts made by municipal managers so that cities can increasingly advance in their commitments and also contribute to the fight against climate change, which is becoming more and more urgent.”
More than 500 united municipalities in Latin America
The Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy is a global alliance of over 12,500 cities and local governments in more than 140 countries voluntarily committed to taking action against climate change, reducing its impacts, and facilitating access to sustainable and affordable energy for all. The Covenant was created in 2016 with the merger of the then-largest networks of mayors and cities working on climate and energy issues: the Compact of Mayors and Covenant of Mayors. These are cities and municipalities taking bold local actions and working together in a network to share innovative solutions, allowing mayors to do more and faster. The Covenant invites new municipalities and cities to join this initiative.
More information:
Website: Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy
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Press Contact: Ébida Santos, [email protected]
