Photograph of the interregional dialogue of the Global Covenant of Mayors held in Brussels, Belgium.
At the beginning of the event, after the initial presentations by the 50 local authorities from different continents, achievements and initiatives supporting cities that are signatories of the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy were discussed. This global initiative works towards reducing greenhouse gas emissions and currently has over 10,000 committed cities from 130 different countries. The program estimates that the efforts of these cities will contribute to reducing 1.4 trillion tons of CO2 by 2030 and 2.8 trillion tons by 2050.
The Latin America and the Caribbean region of the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy (GCoM LAC) was represented by seven delegates from seven countries in the region: the Mayor of Godoy Cruz (Argentina), Tadeo García Zalazar, the Executive Director of Urban Planning at the Pelópidas Silveira City Planning Institute (ICPS) in Recife (Brazil), Mariana Ásfora, the Director of the Climate Change Office of the municipality of Tópaga (Colombia), Carlos Cubides, the Climate Change Officer of the Municipality of Quito (Ecuador), Diego Enríquez, the Executive Director of the Forum of Cities for Life in Peru, Liliana Miranda, Subsecretary of Territories of Inclusion and Opportunities of Cali (Colombia), María Fernanda Arias Giraldo, and the President of the Caribbean Association of Local Government Authorities (CALGA), Anthony Roberts.
Diego Enríquez, the Climate Change Officer of Quito, stated, “The meeting is a great opportunity to share knowledge with other cities,” and mentioned that Quito “has many professionals studying how to improve the city in terms of climate change in the coming years. It is designing an action plan with a focus on 2025 to achieve improvements for the next decades, and many of our projects are included in the nationally determined contributions (NDC).”
Regarding the Caribbean Association of Local Government Authorities (CALGA), its President, Anthony Roberts, commented on the significant impact of climate change in the region. He discussed how the phenomenon is causing erosion in one of the Caribbean’s main tourist attractions, its beaches. Roberts stated, “Despite being new to the Covenant, we have found valuable knowledge that is helping us build capacities to address the issue of climate change.”
The Mayor of Godoy Cruz (Argentina) highlighted the Argentine Network of Municipalities against Climate Change (RAMCC), consisting of 200 cities in Argentina that are already part of the Covenant. He mentioned, “Half of them have developed climate action inventories, and the other half have Climate Action Plans.” Additionally, García emphasized the positive influence of the network on the national government. “We shared a document with the government for COP25; it is very important to improve these alliances, work with universities, and obtain data to measure the progress we make.
Tadeo García, the Mayor of Godoy Cruz:
On the other hand, Mariana Asfora, the Executive Director of Urban Planning at the Pelópidas Silveira City Planning Institute (ICPS) in Recife (Brazil), pointed out that when they conducted a vulnerability study, they realized that “we were one of the most vulnerable cities in the world due to rising sea levels and floods.” When asked about the contribution of the Covenant, she stated, “With the support of the Covenant, we developed a municipal project on climate change mitigation and adaptation, a linear park around the Capibaribe River that integrates various solutions into urban planning.”
Finally, Carlos Cubides, the Director of the Climate Change Office of the municipality of Tópaga (Colombia), spoke about the significant development the municipality has experienced through the Covenant. “When we applied to be part of the GCoM, they were very surprised that such a small municipality had a climate change office and such high initiatives and goals. There is a before and after joining the Covenant. We had already developed our climate change plan, but with the Covenant, we created our municipal GHG inventory and understood how to prioritize the measures we should implement to have the greatest impact in the shortest possible time.”
Cubides also stated, “With the help of the Covenant and ICLEI, we established the Functional Territorial Region of Climate Change. The project was so well-received that we went from 8 to 30 municipalities, benefiting 250,000 people through the project.
