Local governments that signed the commitment to the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy in Latin America and the Caribbean (GCoM-LAC) are already achieving success in following through with actions for a more sustainable and resilient future in cities. Supported by the broad community that makes up GCoM-LAC, municipalities in the region are advancing climate actions in three key areas: mitigating greenhouse gas emissions, identifying and adapting to climate change risks, and increasing access to clean and affordable energy.
According to data reported by the municipalities to the unified CDP & ICLEI platform and validated last year, 94 cities had already reached at least one of the steps related to Greenhouse Gas Emission Mitigation, 82 reached the stage of Climate Change Adaptation, and 34 are in Compliance with the current pillars of the Covenant. Compliance means that cities have completed all sub-steps of mitigation and adaptation outlined in the city’s Climate Action Plan. Worldwide, 116 cities have achieved Compliance, and more than 25% of these municipalities are in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Each of these steps is proposed to ensure solid phases of diagnosis, establishment of mitigation and adaptation goals and objectives, planning, and monitoring. Additionally, they allow for aggregation and comparison with the actions of other cities. All stages present steps for their complete fulfillment.
In terms of mitigation, cities are encouraged to submit their greenhouse gas emission inventories, establish and communicate their emission reduction targets, and develop actions to achieve these targets. Progress in adaptation is observed when there is preparation and submission of a climate risk and vulnerability assessment, establishment of objectives, and preparation of a local-level plan.
It is expected that local governments can then develop projects for climate change mitigation and adaptation (climate resilience), which can be presented in two separate plans or in a single integrated plan. In Latin America and the Caribbean, the Covenant receives reported data related to each of these stages and their respective sub-stages through the unified CDP & ICLEI platform, validating them with partner institutions.
Medals
To recognize and bring transparency to the municipalities’ initiatives under the Covenant, the global secretariat of GCoM has awarded these cities with medals symbolizing their commitment to the largest global alliance of local leaders actively combating climate change and recognizing the progress of these cities. The profiles of the exemplary cities in the alliance showcase their climate action.
In the Adaptation stage, 50 out of the 82 municipalities that received the medal presented plans for their territories, such as Providencia, Chile. The city, with approximately 120,000 inhabitants, created the Local Water Strategy, a water management plan covering the period from 2020 to 2030. This municipal management tool emerges as an initiative for diagnosis, planning, and reflection around water resources.”
Regarding Mitigation, 42 out of the 94 cities in Latin America and the Caribbean that received this medal presented a structured plan, as is the case with Belo Horizonte, Brazil. The city, expected to reach 3 million inhabitants by 2030, has the Biogas Energy Utilization Center, in operation since 2010, as the largest greenhouse gas mitigation project in the municipality. The station processes and burns the methane gas produced from the decomposition of landfill waste, generating electricity, which is purchased by the State Energy Company of Minas Gerais and distributed through its network.
Generating energy from biogas contributes to the reduction of emissions responsible for the greenhouse effect, avoiding the release of about 4 million tons of CO2 equivalents into the atmosphere over 15 years. Biogas is also used as fuel to operate three engines capable of generating enough electricity to power up to 20,000 homes. Belo Horizonte also implements agroforestry and reforestation projects, planting seedlings around schools, among other initiatives.
To achieve conformity status, a signatory city of the Pact must have completed all previous stages: having a mitigation and adaptation action plan based on a diagnosis of the current situation, greenhouse gas emission inventory and reduction targets, risk and vulnerability analysis, in addition to monitoring the implementation of the city’s climate actions. This is the case, for example, with Buenos Aires, Argentina, which has maintained its medal since 2015.
In its climate action plan for 2009, the Argentine capital determined actions in the areas of greatest greenhouse gas emissions: waste, transportation, and energy for residential and general building supply, which is stationary energy.
The latter, which accounted for 59% of emissions, gained measures related to efficiency in electricity and fossil fuel consumption (mainly natural gas) and energy generation with renewable sources in residential, commercial, industrial, local government facilities, and public roads. With over three million inhabitants, the city had managed, by 2015, to reduce emissions from the energy sector by 21% with the measures adopted.
The 2020 climate plan projects that by 2030, the city’s emissions level will reach 17.3 million tons of CO2. Buenos Aires’ mitigation goals, which is part of the C40 group, aim for a 30% reduction in emissions for the next decade.
Think Global, Act Local
In Latin America and the Caribbean, the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy has already reached over 400 participating cities. The global community of local governments now includes more than 10,000 cities on six continents, representing over 800 million citizens worldwide. The global network commits to ambitious action to provide a historic and powerful response to climate change.
