Footprint Project: The experience of , Quito and October 2014 Mauro Magnetto E-mail: [email protected]

Introduction Quito The world is going through an unprecedented urbanization movement. In this regard, Latin- America and the Caribbean have the world’s high- est urbanization rates, with population’s increas- ing from 41 per cent in 1950 to 80 per cent by Lima 20151. currently occupy only 3 per cent of La Paz the world’s land surface. However, they produce 50 per cent of global waste, consume 75 per cent of natural resources and account for 60 to 80 per cent of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions2. For this reason, urban centers have an important role to play in the solutions of climate change.

Quick facts Project Detail Capital Cities of Ecuador, Peru and Zone Bolivia The City Footprint Project is an instrument cur- Programme rently being used by the local governments of 2012 started Quito, Lima and La Paz, to reduce carbon emis- sions, improve quality and uses of water and gen- Topic Cities Water and Carbon Footprints - Implementing ject seeks to incorporate environmental planning Local Governments Agencies anderate management climate resilient instruments cities. Specifically, into the activities the pro of local governments, as well as the private sector webpage www.huelladeciudades.com and other actors, giving them access to technical Cities Footprint Project: The experience of La Paz, Quito and Lima South America October 2014 and methodological tools that contributes with the - the atmosphere over a period of time. tions that allow cities to adapt to climate change 2. Carbon footprint: volume of GHG emitted into andidentification, mitigate it 3 selection. The project and consists development of six stages, of ac Diagnosis

Stage one analyzes the origin of both hydraulic as shown in figure 1: and carbon footprints. Figure 2 shows the carbon footprint results of the three Latin American cities Figure 1: City Footprint Project Stages over a one year period. The main source of GHG emissions is the transport sector (diesel and pet- rol), averaging around 50 per cent across the three cities, followed by the residential, commercial and institutional sector (electricity).

Figure 2: Carbon Footprint by sector

The City Footprint Project focuses on two types of footprints that can be measured by individual, or- ganization, economic sector, territory, process or product.

1. Hydraulic footprint4 polluted) over a period: An of indicatortime. There of freshwater are three use and pollution, quantified by volume (used or Proyecto Huella de Ciudades (2012) subtypes: Source: Executive Summary – City Footprints Project. water (lakes, rivers, aquifers) consumed during Figure 3 shows that the residential sector is re- thea. Blue production footprint: of goodsVolume or of services; surface and ground sponsible for approximately 95 per cent of the total hydraulic footprint across all three cities, fol- - lowed by the commercial sector that represents sumed during the production process, particular- around 5 per cent of the total. Regarding the in- lyb. relevant Green footprint: to agricultural Volume and offorestry rainwater products; con dustrial and public sector, it’s responsible for less and than 1 per cent. Of the three types of hydraulic footprint, the grey footprint accounts for roughly - 98 per cent of the total. This composition shows that there is an important level of contamination dilutec. Grey pollutants footprint: to Indicator remain above of freshwater the agreed pollu wa- in the water due to a lack of appropriate house- tertion, quality defined standards. as the volume of water required to

hold effluent treatment. Cities Footprint Project: The experience of La Paz, Quito and Lima South America October 2014

Reduction Actions

Figure 3: Cities water footprint by sector The third stage is to identify projects that can generate a reduction in the hydraulic and carbon footprints of the cities. With respect to the water footprint, actions can include water treatment and reuse of residual waters, implementation of

(including sinks, showers and toilets), and water water efficient products for the residential sector-

use efficiency public awareness campaigns. Car technologybon footprint use reduction5. activities include efficient transport systems, energy efficiency and clean Potential of Reduction Actions

Stage four requires evaluation of the potential options for reduction actions, as determined in Proyecto Huella de Ciudades (2012) Source: Executive Summary – City Footprints Project. stage three. This is done by estimating the range of reductions and by determining the cost of im- Business as Usual Projection plementation for each option.

The second stage of the project determines foot- print projections for a ‘business as usual’ sce- nario based on current outputs, if no regulations Figure 5 : Benefit-cost analysis or changes are implemented. Figure 4 shows the BAU projections for Lima with a 16 per cent in- crease between levels in 2012 and 2015.

Figure 4: Lima’s hydric footprint projection

Source: http://ledslac.org/IMG/pdf/20140923_proy_ huella_de_ciudades-_valeria_revilla.pdf. Figure 5 showsEdited the by different Mauro Magnetto action possibilities, where green boxes represent low cost and high impact actions; and red boxes represent high cost and low impact options.

Source: http://ledslac.org/IMG/pdf/20140923_proy_ huella_de_ciudades-_valeria_revilla.pdf. Edited by Mauro Magnetto Cities Footprint Project: The experience of La Paz, Quito and Lima South America October 2014

Define goals ed with the city footprints project, and secondly, get involved. Therefore awareness campaigns By using the optimum scenario for reduction of hydraulic and carbon footprints per sector (as de- other instruments such as footprints calculators forare schoolsessential. or Moreover, for individuals apps forare cellphones effective tools and to make people participate in the project and ittermined is important in stage to four), outline stage the five responsibilities defines the long of produce positive effects on footprint reduction. differentterm goals. actors, Before including defining local, the regional goals, however, and na- tional governments. Once the responsibilities are - centers and regions to generate positive syner- ure 6 is an example of an optimum water footprint gies- Collaboration: (such as knowledge Cities can sharing collaborate and experience) with other reductiondefined, long scenario, term goalsper sector. can be determined. Fig through cooperation.

Outcomes

Figure 6: Water footprint optimum reduction scenario The City Footprint Project has a positive environ- mental impact, helping local governments to ac- quire the capacities necessary for measuring and managing their GHG emissions and water con- sumption. In this way, cities can join subnational and national environmental efforts on climate change mitigation and help the country to comply

governments are able to build strong action plans thatwith ensureinternational the long commitments. term sustainability Moreover, of local the project. A variety of different stakeholders are in- volved in the project, including citizens, fostering widespread commitment to environmental sus- - Source: http://ledslac.org/IMG/pdf/20140923_proy_ pation facilitates collaboration and coordination, huella_de_ciudades-_valeria_revilla.pdf andtainability. provides Encouragement the conditions of necessarystakeholder to particiattract ImplementationEdited by Mauro Magnetto additional funding for further emissions reduc- tions and water management project5. The City Footprints Project provides local govern- ments with the necessary tools for building capac- The City Footprint Project has great potential as is ity to measure their footprints, and monitor and illustrated in managing the hydraulic and carbon evaluate their footprint reduction performance. footprints of Lima, Quito and La Paz. This project Within the implementation processes local gov- offers a roadmap for local governments to move ernments should focus on at the following key towards a sustainable future.

References topics: used to evaluate the potential for larger scale ap- The following documents informed the develop- plication,- Pilot projects: the positive Experimental social effects projects and impacts can be of footprint reduction. ment of this paper: -

- [1] World Urbanization Prospects: the 2011 Re - Communication: it’s highly important that the vision. UNDESA. Available at http://esa.un.org/ society firstly understand all the concepts relat unup/CD-ROM/Urban-Rural-Population.htm Cities Footprint Project: The experience of La Paz, Quito and Lima South America October 2014

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[2] Global Initiative for Resource Efficient Cit Earthscan, London, UK. http://www.waterfoot ies, Engine to Sustainability - UNEP. Available at Videoprint.org/?page=files/Glossary. Material 10/10/2014 http://www.unep.org/pdf/GI-REC_4pager.pdf 10/10/2014 Proyecto Huella de Ciudades (2012). - [3] Excecutive Summary – City Footprint Project. LEDS LAC Webinar (2014), ’Proyecto huella de- ciudades: hacia un desarrollo urbano bajo en emi siones y resiliente al cambio climático. Experi [4] Hoekstra, A.Y., Chapagain, A.K., Aldaya, M.M. encias en la Paz, Quito y Lima’. Available at: http:// and Mekonnen, M.M. (2011) The water footprint - Photographicyoutu.be/DluRiPREbsg. Source 10/10/2014 assessment manual: Setting the global standard, Earthscan, London, UK. http://www.waterfoot - print.org/?page=files/Glossary. 10/10/2014 - Steve Johnson (Edited). Retrieved from: htt [5] Hoekstra, A.Y., Chapagain, A.K., Aldaya, M.M. ps://www.flickr.com/photos/artbystevejohn and Mekonnen, M.M. (2011) The water footprint son/6307672876 assessment manual: Setting the global standard,