Santa Marta Net Zero Profile

City Net Zero Profile: Santa Marta With a metropolitan population of approximately 700,000, Santa Marta is the 8th largest city in Colombia. It is the 62nd largest in Latin and Central America and the Caribbean, and the 473rd largest city globally.1 Core City Population 480,000 Wider Metropolitan Area Population 700,000 This snapshot examines Santa Marta potential to accelerate towards ‘net zero’. It assesses: 1. How enabling is the city’s current endowment to decarbonise (inherited assets). 2. Ambition and strategy for a low carbon future. 3. Span of powers and influence to accelerate decarbonisation initiatives. 4. The platforms and projects underway that can support a lower carbon future. 5. The investment and business innovation environment to promote decarbonisation. These 5 dimensions are explored in the summary statements below. Summary and key findings By global and regional standards, Santa Marta is: A Net Zero Guardian. Santa Marta inherits a range of green and nature assets to protect Assets and which can underpin enhanced resilience in the next cycle. A Net Zero Enthusiast. Several parallel initiatives coming online in the current cycle that Ambition can help to enable a more comprehensive strategy and foster more rapid progress. A Net Zero Commander. Santa Marta’s institutional, regulatory and governance framework Powers enables it to carry out more concerted and aligned actions. A Net Zero Accelerator. Leveraging multiple sources of leadership to implement a number Projects of transformational projects in the coming years. A Net Zero Experimenter. Established relationships with multilateral development banks Innovation and some promising demonstration of private sector innovations to be built on in the next cycle. Figure 1: Santa Marta’s position within an emerging net zero typology *Based on initial data. Scores subject to change contingent on final checks and weightings. **Peer average refers to average among all measured cities in Latin and Central America and the Caribbean, except for projects and platforms, where it refers to average among the 6 Chilean and Colombian cities. Full list of indicators for each theme provided in Appendix. Aggregate scores calculated using an ELO algorithm. Figure 2: The main challenges facing Santa Marta in the journey to net zero *Based on a combination of external comparative data and level of urgency as identified in current strategies and plans and/or by industry practitioners during interviews carried out in early 2021. Based on the comparative data and observed insights from strategies and practitioners, among the key priority areas for Santa Marta to accelerate towards net zero appear to be: 1. More efficient, evidence-based management of protected areas that takes into consideration the whole of the regional territorial basin 2. A shift towards a more compact city, supported by transport-oriented development, the expansion and modernisation of public transport, and continued roll out of incentives for densification 3. Shifting the city’s development paradigm to favour pedestrians and cyclists Given these imperatives, the UK contribution has the potential to be most salient in the transport and land use sectors, especially in terms of: 1. Direct deployment of best-in-class data science, AI and drone automation technologies to support the scale-up of nature-based solutions and monitoring efforts, plus partnerships with key leaders in the UK who have experience coordinating such solutions across multiple jurisdictions 2. Technical, policy and financial assistance to develop and scale incentives for densification and compact development, and to unlock new sources of stable year-on-year financing to undertake more city-wide transformational projects 3. Assistance with integration of multiple transport providers and scaling infrastructure for active transport 2 How well set up is Santa Marta to go net zero? Table 1: Santa Marta’s aggregate scores in terms of current endowment to shift to net zero Score relative to Latin Rank among Latin American Latin American America Latin American leader laggard leader* cities (max = 1) Track record of compact development 0.75 Guayaquil Tijuana 22nd / 51 Grande Sao Transport systems efficiency 0.50 Santiago 40th / 52 Luis Toluca de Urban canopy coverage and protection 0.91 Tijuana 3rd / 26 Lerdo *Among all measured cities in Latin and Central America and the Caribbean. All indicators featured in each of the 3 main sub themes detailed in Appendix. Aggregate scores and ranks calculated using an ELO algorithm. Santa Marta is distinctive among Colombian and Latin American cities for its natural and green assets, which may be both a blessing and a challenge for decarbonisation efforts. The metropolitan area has within its wider limits two National Parks, both of which are protected areas with valuable environmental characteristics that make them highly strategic natural assets in the journey towards decarbonisation and significant carbon sinks. There is however an opportunity to manage these assets more efficiently, as currently most conservation and reforestation projects are focused in more rural areas with fewer resources for consistent monitoring and maintenance, and span multiple jurisdictions which makes long-term financing more of a challenge. The city’s wider territorial basin also shapes what can be achieved, and which assets can be leveraged, in the coming years. Santa Marta is also located close to the Zona Bananera region, which is dominated by banana and oil-palm production, and which provides more than 40,000 direct and indirect jobs to the city.2 Given the economic importance of the banana market to Santa Marta, this agriculture sector may offset the benefits of carbon sequestration as a result of energy intensive production processes and operational transport to and from the region. In the next cycle, efforts to protect Santa Marta’s green assets, including the deployment of new technologies and nature-based solutions, may need to factor this into consideration in order to maximise their effectiveness. Compared to other Colombian cities, Santa Marta is still running behind in terms of implementing transformative decarbonisation actions. However, the city inherits a series of important physical natural and built assets – such as widespread nature reserves, an industrial railway that can serve both cargo and passenger functions, and a major seaport – that can underpin bolder climate action in the next cycle. The city’s economic fabric has helped to bring Santa Marta closer to international opportunities, which may prove to be an important advantage in accelerating the journey to net zero. Santa Marta’s national parks, as well as its long coastline, make Santa Marta a leading tourist destination in Latin America. Santa Marta also benefits from being a target city of one the Territorially Focused Development Programmes created under Colombia´s Peace Agreement.3 Led and financed by the National Government through mechanisms such as Colombia’s Sustainable Fund, these programmes include projects relating to land use and rural development that can help the city to accelerate to net zero. The reforesting of two National Parks – Tayrona and Sierra Nevada – can support carbon sequestration and help to ensure that the city maintains its status as a leading city in Latin America for metropolitan level urban forestry coverage and protection (see Table 2). Efforts to reduce emissions associated with the construction industry and increase the energy efficiency of Santa Marta’s building stock will be important in the next cycle. The new Territorial Ordering Plan adopted in 2020 reinforces the protection of natural environment within the city’s boundaries but also envisions the modernisation of the built environment, through the implementation of density and height bonuses to encourage the development of buildings that reduce carbon footprint and energy 3 demand.4 Furthermore, some private developers in the city have started implementing the EDGE (Excellence in Design for Greater Efficiency) certification in residential and commercial buildings. EDGE is an initiative created by IFC and supported by the UK Government to mainstream green buildings around the world. Despite having a high core urban population density, Santa Marta has been sprawling rapidly relative to other Latin American cities. The city’s built-up area has increased by more than 15% since 2000, making Santa Marta one of the fastest sprawling cities in Latin America in absolute terms.5 The recent adoption of planning tools designed to increase buildings density may provide an important solution, particularly in the face of a need to ensure that Santa Marta continues to excel for the protection of key carbon sinks on the outskirts of the city. A move to a more compact development model will be an important priority in the next cycle. Santa Marta benefits from a relatively efficient bus network, but does not yet have a high-capacity public transport system. On a per capita basis, Santa Marta has the 2nd highest level of public transport uptake among Colombian cities, but the uptake of cycling can be strengthened further in the next cycle as the new plan for Urban Cycling takes hold.6 As in many other medium-sized cities, public transport is regulated by the state, but mainly provided by private companies. Together with the high usage of buses and the presence of an industrial railway, this means that from a decarbonisation perspective: • The electrification of buses can be a big driver of progress in the next cycle. • A new light rail system that retrofits the existing rail connection can help to provide an important high-capacity public transport link. • A key challenge will be around shifting the paradigm to prioritise pedestrians and cyclists and reducing fragmentation linked to the number of different providers Table 2: Santa Marta’s performance versus Latin American cities across key net zero endowment metrics Average Santa Marta among Latin Latin American Latin American Rank performance American leader laggard cities* 18,300 / sq. Core urban area density7 8,300 / sq.

Load more