Santa Cruz is the second city in the country to measure its carbon footprint

With the purpose of working with tools and actions that help fight the effects of climate change, Santa Cruz de la Sierra is the second Bolivian city, after La Paz, to measure its carbon and water footprint, in the framework of the project "Huella de Ciudades" (Cities' footprint), promoted by CAF, Development Bank of Latin America, and the Coordinadora Regional de la Alianza Clima y Desarrollo (CDKN)(Regional Coordinator of the Climate and Development Alliance), under the execution of the Fundación Futuro Latinoamericano (FFLA) (Latin American Future Foundation), and its technical branch Servicios Ambientales S.A. (Environmental Services).

Percy Fernández, mayor of the city, Angélica Sosa, President of the Municipal Council, and Michelle Lawrence, Secretary of the Environment in the Municipality, met with Emilio Uquillas, CAF's Director Representative in Bolivia. After the initiative was presented, the mayor reiterated the agreement with the project implemented in Santa Cruz since last August. In addition, he said that as an example for the institutions of Santa Cruz and the city's inhabitants, the Municipal Government started to measure its own carbon and water footprints. 

Uquillas pointed out, "One of the priority issues identified in CAF's regional environmental agenda is related to the role that cities play in the struggle against climate change through the direct implementation of policies, from the sphere of the local municipal governments as key actors". 

As a pilot test, the following cities entered the project in 2013: La Paz (Bolivia), Lima (Peru) and Quito (Ecuador). Now, together with Santa Cruz, the cities of Fortaleza (Brazil) and Guayaquil (Ecuador) are included.

Huella de Ciudades emerges a CAF initiative due to the high vulnerability of the cities facing the effects of climate change, and the demand for short term actions that may be adapted for these impacts, increasing their capacity to recover in addition to guiding their growth and development in a framework of sustainability. 

The project seeks to identify and develop mitigation actions through evaluations of the Carbon and Water footprints in cities, promoting the participation of the sectors involved, such as transportation, water and sanitation, energy, and other actors such as universities, research centers, NGO's, and the private sector. 

The idea emerged as a result of the accelerated growth pace of the urban population, mainly in Latin America, which poses the challenge of improving access to urbanized areas, energy, and potable water, as well as working in the production of food, vehicular traffic and congestion, efficiency in the use of energy for transportation and construction, and systems for water supply and disposal of solid residues, among others.

Thus, CAF seeks to contribute to the experiences and lessons learned so that other Latin American cities may join the initiative.