Lo Barnechea Joins GCoM and Begins Developing Its Climate Action Plan
On Wednesday, September 28, the mayor of Lo Barnechea, Chile, Cristóbal Lira, signed the adhesion to the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy and launched the Buzón Ciudadano en Línea to facilitate public participation in developing the Climate Action Plan.
The event featured presentations by Sonia Reyes, Regional Ministerial Secretary (SEREMI RM) of Environment; Jordan Harris, Coordinator of the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy; and Pamela Smith, associate researcher at the Center for Climate and Resilience Science CR2 and academic at the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism at the University of Chile.
Rodrigo Arias represented the Chilean Association of Municipalities as the national coordinator and president of the National Advisory Committee of the Covenant. The AChM is responsible for implementing and developing the PACs within the national strategy and other activities within it.
Lo Barnechea Climate Action Plan
The event marked the beginning of the development process for Lo Barnechea’s Climate Action Plan. The ultimate goal is to address the challenges presented by climate change, transition towards low greenhouse gas emission development to achieve and maintain neutrality by 2050, adapt the community to new scenarios, and increase resilience to adverse effects. These efforts also aim to fulfill international commitments made by Chile.
These municipal climate action plans complement various management instruments in Chile’s new law, such as the National Strategy, sectoral adaptation and mitigation plans, and regional climate change committees. Each sectoral actor and government level has its role and responsibility in this matter.
Municipalities have a three-year period to develop the Climate Action Plan. Lo Barnechea decided to start this work in 2022, seeing it as an opportunity to create a strategy encompassing all previous efforts made by the city.
Challenges Faced by the City
The community faces several challenges that could be addressed with the help of the Covenant: biodiversity loss, high water consumption, water scarcity, rapid urbanization, and population growth are some of the problems the city faces.
The plan will address several of these issues. It covers scientific knowledge, technology development and transfer, citizen participation, and networking.
Mayor Cristóbal Lira invited all organization professionals to get involved in building this new local management instrument and formed strategic alliances with the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy and the Ministry of Environment.
The PACC will serve as a roadmap for the community’s development and the Municipality’s actions in the coming years.
“We are making significant progress in sustainability, evidenced by the update of the PRC, our ongoing water strategy, the protection of urban wetlands in our community (we already have six officially declared, and we hope the declaration of the Estero el Arrayán will soon be accepted, and we are about to submit, together with other municipalities, the corresponding request for the Mapocho River), the Local Energy Strategy we are finalizing, and various actions in biodiversity protection. In this context and considering the climate urgency, I invite you to continue working towards sustainable development through the Climate Action Plan. Every action counts and adds up,” said Mayor Lira.
Global Covenant of Mayors
The Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy (GCoM) is the largest global alliance of climate leadership, built on the voluntary commitment of more than 11,700 cities and local governments to fight climate change, reduce its unavoidable impacts, and facilitate access to sustainable and affordable energy for all.
In Chile, the AChM and Adapt Chile are the national coordinators of the GCoM.
