Five cities in Ecuadro already measure their carbon and hydric footprint

The resulting indicators will be useful to support and guide decisions, strategies, and actions focused on increasing resilience and adaptation to climate change, ensuring the provision of goods and services of the ecosystem to the canton. 

The objective of the agreement is to support municipal initiatives regarding mitigation and adaptation to climate change in Cuenca, promoting actions to reduce emissions and manage water. This initiative will also help share knowledge and experiences between cities, and promote alliances between the key actors of the public and private sectors and society as a whole.

Following are the expected results of this technical cooperation: 

- Measurement of the carbon and wateer footprint of the city's Municipal Government, to implement a strategy to reduce and/or compensate for the emissions. 

- Evaluation Manual of the Water Footprint.

- Conditions for the implementation of mitigation and adaptation actions, including detailed plans to implement pilot experiences. 

- Inter-sectorial activities to facilitate the exchange of knowledge regarding adaptation and mitigation actions. 

- Action plan for a cross cutting climate change agenda in key sectors such as transportation, energy, water, residues, and industry, among others. 

This support is in addition to the program "Barrios para Mejor Vivir Fase 2" (Neighborhoods for a Better Living, Phase 2) that CAF, Development Bank of Latin America, is currently financing, and which also contains a component for the mitigation of climate change which will reduce 36.6 TCO2 per year through the installation of a LED technology based lighting system in 20 recreational public parks, strengthening the capacity to adapt, and improving the quality of life of low income inhabitants that live in vulnerable neighborhoods of Cuenca.  

With this program, Ecuador is the country with the largest number of cities participating in the "Footprints of Cities" Program.