The data from the United Nations (UN) highlight that the cities are responsible of a 75% of worldwide consumption of energy and of the 80% of emissions of Greenhouse Gases (GHG). If the necessary measures are not taken, the worsening of the situation is predicted.
“The percentage of emissions in urban areas tends to increase, since the part of the worldwide population that live in cities is due to increase from 50% to 60% of the total towards the year 2025, and to 70% in 2050”, explains the president of the National Association of Municipal Organisms of Environement (Anamma), Clarismino Luiz Pereira Junior. It is important to highlight that in Brazil 82% of the population resides in cities.
Gradually there are local governments from several parts of the planet which start submitting their innovating and pioneering initiatives in what concerns public policies set aside for fighting against climate change, though most of the municipality governments and states in Brazil, and from other similar territories around the world, have not yet eagerly devoted to solve the problem.
According to Sérgio Leitão, coordinator of public policies of the Brazilian branch of NGO Greenpeace, the mayors and local governments are fundamental actors when it comes to taking effective measures for reducing GHG emissions and searching adaptable solutions to the impacts derived from climate alterations. In Pereira Jr´s opinion, “the local initiatives bear a great potential, and that is a contribution which can make it easier to achieve high global goals of reduction needed in the world”, he evaluates.
One believes in what is seen.
The local initiatives of adaptation and mitigation end up trying to compensate, up to a point, the lack of national policies. “While there are industrialized countries and other developing countries which avoid assuming compromises related to the reductions of GHG, some national governments have no fear in facing such a challenge. There are several governments that have been adopting public policies to do their bit”, stresses the associate coordinator and researcher from the Studies Centre of Sustainable Development of Brazilian foundation Getúlio Vargas (Gvces), Raquel Biderman, in her article published in the website “A sustainable planet” on July 2nd 2008.
She states at the same time that “the actions at local level have the force given by the conviction, the force of the persuasion. Nothing compares to those measures taken in our own territory to convince us that there is a real problem and that we must face it. While the discussions are confined to the UN aisles, the man in the street will find it hard to understand that it is his problem too”, she argues.
There are still challengers, but, in the sections appeared below, we introduce initiatives to improve the situation in this sense. It is important to highlight that each of them work in a different way and produce different impacts: it is about nets of experience exchanges, legislation to diminish the emissions of carbon, toll roads, intelligent houses, etc.
The said actions, according to Sérgio Leitão, may not manage to compensate completely the lack of national and international decisions which have influence to a larger extent on the mitigation of climate change, but they have the potential of creating local public policies that influence over all the sectors – from the government to business behavior, and over the citizens. These are examples that, if followed, can produce results with an important impact all over the world.
http://www.cambioclimatico.redandi.org/node/163?page=0,1
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