Latin American cities respond to climate change

Civilization chose by majority to settle in cities. Currently, 55% of the world’s population lives in urban centers, and there are 36 cities with more than 10 million inhabitants. To put these figures in context, at the Roman Empire’s peak, its capital had just over one million inhabitants.

In Latin America and the Caribbean, the majority is even more overwhelming with 80% of the population choosing to live in cities, making it the second most urbanized region, just behind North America. This process of urbanization, which is recent and growing, has caused tremendous problems, such as informal settlements and pockets of poverty appearing. But this also leaves an unquestionable reality in its wake: that any solution to humanity’s great challenges will inevitably involve cities.

Therefore, to combat climate change, whose consequences will be more drastic in developing regions such as Latin America and the Caribbean, cities must take urgent adaptation and mitigation measures and promote conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity in urban planning and management.

This means turning cities into spaces that coexist harmoniously with nature through, for example, parks, gardens, resilient and environmentally friendly infrastructure, urban forests, clean transport systems, and other activities that contribute to integrating natural resources and to promoting socioeconomic activities that are low in emissions of polluting gases. The added value of these investments is that they substantially improve the quality of life for citizens.

“Climate change and environmental pollution are phenomena that shape our cities’ agendas. To address them, it is necessary that local governments consider and integrate biodiversity protection, the development of infrastructure, and urban growth in general, these being a part of their urban development plans and the legislation that should result from them”, says Pablo López, coordinator of CAF’s Cities with a Future initiative.

According to López, a growing consensus is beginning to form among Latin American mayors to establish an urban growth model that is in harmony with biodiversity and the environment in general. Proof of this is the declaration recently signed by the mayors of eight cities in the region to promote a new climate change adaptation concept for cities: BiodiverCiudades. The cities that signed this declaration were: Barranquilla (Colombia), Córdoba (Argentina), Lima (Peru), Luján (Argentina), Maldonado (Uruguay), Niterói (Brazil), Timbiquí (Colombia), Ushuaia (Argentina).

The BiodiverCiudad concept arises from the need to effectively and comprehensively incorporate local and regional biodiversity into urban planning, as the axis and essential instrument of socioeconomic development. The BiodiverCiudades initiative, coordinated by the  Alexander von Humboldt Institute of Colombia and the World Economic Forum, brings together councils from various cities in the country, as well as companies and civil society to forge a future in which nature benefits cities and cities benefit nature.

According to Jaime Pumarejo, mayor of Barranquilla, the city’s objective “must be the conservation of the environment and our natural beauty, without losing sight of that journey towards, and enthusiasm for, carbon emission reduction. This is a call to action to follow our example, to shame the rest of the world into taking the same steps we are taking.”