While each part of the world is experiencing the climate crisis in a different way, there are some common challenges all major cities face: reducing reliance on fossil fuels, increased green public transport; increasing the number of green spaces and ensuring that their city is ready for the impacts of climate change.
The Metropolitan Area of Guadalajara (AMG) is Mexico’s second most populous urban area – with 5.2 million residents – after Mexico City, and an urban centre that is attempting to deal with the climate crisis by developing a strategic planning instrument aligned with the objectives of the Paris Agreement and with Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC).
Despite the area’s large population, 78 per cent of Metropolitan Guadalajara’s land is made up of agricultural areas, pastures, forests and jungles. Increased population and urban growth have had a huge effect on the natural environment, modifying the watercourses that run through the city, and hampering vital ecosystem services such as flood regulation, sediment control, temperature regulation and biodiversity support. Urban sprawl, in some cases in hazardous areas near National Protected Areas, has increased the risk of landslides in irregular settlements, which are mainly made up of low-income people.
Mexico is already suffering the effects of climate change from droughts and floods to falling crop yields and wildfires. According to the World Bank, “its location between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans and its latitude and topography significantly increase Mexico’s exposure to extreme hydro meteorological events.”
The PACmetro Action Plan was launched more than a year ago and so far, according to "Mario Ramón Silva Rodríguez from the Metropolitan Planning Institute of Guadalajara Metropolitan Area (IMEPLAN), “70 per cent of the plan is in some stage of execution, while the rest [of the plan] is in the design or planning stage.”
The Action Plan covers a huge, diverse range of objectives, from measures to increase low-emission public transport, wastewater treatment and renewable energy. The plan is also indicative of the fact that many cities around the world are taking action on the climate, and not waiting for national governments to take the lead. And with 60 per cent of the world's population expected to live in cities and around 90 per cent of this urban expansion to take place in developing countries by 2030, it is important that cities take the lead in sustainable practices.
The PACmetro Action Plan is the result of an agreement between IMEPLAN, the Metroplolitan Area of Guadalajara's municipalities and the Jalisco State Government.
One key area of the plan is the promotion of sustainable travel alternatives. “We have seen the expansion of MiBiCi, the city’s public bicycle system, with 2.8 million trips in 2021, 8 per cent more than in 2020,” Rodríguez says.
"There are now 3,200 bikes and 300 bike stations, with more than 119,478 users. This rise in cyclists is reflected in the rise of cycling infrastructure, with 246km of bicycle lanes and 116km of priority lanes being built so far. There has also been an expansion of transit corridors, with a new 42km Bus Rapid Transport line on the area’s Urban Electric Train System, which consists of three lines and carries more than 110,000 people per day. “We also have converted 979 buses to more energy efficient buses, and have added 38 buses that are 100 per cent electric,” Rodríguez says.
Another initiative is Reviving the Santiago River, which aims to improve public health and decrease pollution along the 433-km river which flows through Guadalajara. The initiative involves increased water quality monitoring, which has “allowed for the development of a water quality index for the river, which is designed to help strategic decision making and impact measuring,” says Rodríguez.
Winning last year’s Global Climate Action Award at COP26 has helped the city, Rodríguez says. “Receiving the Global Climate Action Award, is more than recognition, it gives us the opportunity to make our metropolis more visible and receive support from different international organisations and governments, so we can accelerate our climate action.”
Rodríguez also highlights the importance of transparency throughout the entire process. “It is important we effectively communicate the ambitions, strategies and actions of the plan, as well as ensuring transparency is reached through our different multilevel actors and in different sectors, which is a key component to generate conditions that allow the involvement and appropriation of relevant actors and citizens.”
Ultimately, the PACmetro plan will improve the lives of the area’s residents, by reducing the risks of climate change, and making the city a safer and more sustainable place to live. The preservation of natural resources will bring additional benefits in terms of quality of life and health, especially for the population with less access to these resources.
What the PACmetro Plan illustrates is that creating a more sustainable, climate friendly, and liveable city not only helps protect future generations from the worst effects of the climate crisis, it helps today’s residents too.
Urban climate action will be one focus of Latin America and the Caribbean Climate Week (LACCW 2022) taking place 18-22 July in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. See the programme of the week.