Merida is a leader in Latin America’s fight against climate change

Mérida was ranked as one of the leading cities in Latin America in the fight against climate change by having a platform that will allow it to report advances in its commitment to reduce the footprint of carbon and for registering transversal public policies in favor of sustainability.

The foregoing was expressed by representatives of the foundations that sponsored the “International Climate Change Forum: What is our role?” held in Santiago de Cali, Colombia in recent days. Event organizers invited the Ayuntamiento de Mérida to present their experiences in the theme.

Christian Hübner, director of the Regional Energy and Climate Change Program in Latin America (EKLA) of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS), based in Peru, said Mérida is one of the few cities in Latin America that has shown a series of transversal actions aimed at achieving these objectives, such as the implementation of a Sustainable Mobility Master Plan, the Municipal Green Infrastructure Plan, the modification of the Management Plan for the Cuxtal Ecological Reserve, and the creation of the Operator Organism for The Cuxtal Reserve.

He also stated that the Yucatecan capital has presented advances and innovation in the solid waste collection system, and other actions such as the modification of the Urban Development Program, and the Greenhouse Gas Inventory, and it already has a series of strategies for Action on Change Climate.

“Undoubtedly the initiative of Mayor Mauricio Vila to promote sustainability in Mérida represents an example that can be replicated in several Ibero-American cities,” he said.

Juliana López, Director of the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), said that Mérida announced in this important forum that the CDP platform has already been named by the Compact of Mayors as the official platform for reporting on the progress of the commitment on climate change, so Mérida is ready to take the next step in reporting its results on the Greenhouse Gas Inventory, action on climate change and the results of the programs that have been implemented by the City of Mérida.

Sayda Rodríguez Gómez, head of the Sustainable Development Unit, who came on behalf of Mayor Mauricio Vila, said they mayor signed a letter of intent a few days ago with the World Resources Institute (WRI) in Mexico City. She siad that the Yucatecan capital represented Mexico to share its experiences in planning and implementing actions for mitigation and adaptation to climate change.

In that international forum, Mérida also exhibited along with other cities like Medellín, Colombia; San Borja, Peru; and Santiago de Chile, Chile. Their experiences reflect the participation of companies, society and civil organizations around these tasks that seek to fulfill the commitment of several international agendas to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases by 2030.

Sayda Rodríguez said that during the exchange of experiences, the Yucatecan capital presented its progress in several topics such as sustainable mobility by removing almost 200 polluting and inefficient vehicles, the purchase of 16 electric vehicles for use in the Historic Center, investment in inclusive infrastructure and cycle paths in strategic locations, among others.

Regarding the Municipal Green Infrastructure Plan, she explained that work is already being done on the design of the first 6 community urban gardens to be implemented based on the needs of the community and with a concept of integrality that allows not only the creation of green areas, but also social cohesion, capacity-building for food sovereignty and improvement of local nutrition.

Also, she added, the advance of the inventory of urban trees was presented, indicating with a progress that indicates that the annual catch of Carbon is of 14,800 tons as well as a total of 50,000 trees planted to the date.

Finally, she informed that due to the report of these advances, the City of Mérida will receive several invitations from Ibero-American and European organizations to present these experiences as a model of success stories in Latin America.

Source: reporteroshoy.mx

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