Climate action plan of Quito

The Municipality of the Metropolitan District of Quito published its climate action plan (PACQ) for the city, detailing the way forward to make Quito a GHG neutral and climate resilient city by 2050, using a step-wise approach by identifying goals, targets and prioritised actions for the short (2023), medium (2030) and long term (2050). The plan follows the city's three main objectives regarding climate policy: 1) to slow the growth of the carbon footprint, 2) to boost resilience and reduce social vulnerability through Nature-Based Solutions (NBS), and 3) to ensure the well-being, health and quality of life of citizens.

Overview

Type of instrument:

Legislative, regulatory and strategic instruments›Dedicated strategy, plan, or law

Challenges addressed

Water management (e.g. reuse)
Green space management (e.g. accessibility)
Drought and fire risk
Flood risk: pluvial and fluvial / soil permeability
Landslide risk
Air quality
Reconnection to the biosphere / environmental education
Human health, comfort and well-being

Consideration of nature-based solutions:

The plan includes a large variety of NBS, such as in the San Enrique de Velasco neighbourhood. A respective NBS plan includes urban tree planting, stream management, resilient public space for this neighbourhood and peripheral neighbourhoods for climate adaptation. The plan further intents to connect strategic work on NBS with activities and results from other ongoing projects.

Targeted (peri-)urban areas:

Parks and (semi)natural urban green areas

Allotments, community gardens or agricultural areas

Green areas for water management

Derelict areas

External building greens

Urban green space connected to grey infrastructure

Good practice characteristics:

Support multifunctional NBS

Sustainable in the long-term

Locally appropriate

Potential to be replicated / upscaled

Governance

Government body/bodies

Initiating body:

Municipality of the Metropolitan District of Quito

Instrument design:

Details about how the instrument was designed:

The collective construction of the PACQ was conducted via the establishment of various working groups that strengthened the development of co-responsibility and the inclusion of multiple actors. These roundtables were made up of technicians and representatives of various municipal and national institutions related to the environmental issue of climate change oriented towards local development. In addition, a larger interest group was formed with representatives from other sectors of society, private enterprise, academia and NGOs. The purpose was to determine the best working methods and tools to match the needs and expectations of each type of stakeholder.

Involvement of non-governmental actors:

Public sector institution (e.g. school or hospital)

Private sector, corporate, business

Researchers, university

Citizens or community groups / NGOs

Coalition

Type of actor involvement:

Co-planning or co-design of instrument (e.g. boards, advisory role)

Civil society consultation through e.g. workshops, surveys

Instrument implementation:

Type of involvement:

No information was found on the public´s role in the instrument implementation.

Type of non-governmental actors involved:

Co-design of NBS, implemented by government

Targeted actors:

Public sector institution (e.g. school or hospital)

Private: household, real estate developer, business , financial

Researchers, university

Citizens or community groups (CBOs), NGOs

Financing

Sources of funding:

Public national budget

Public local authority’s budget

Corporate investment

Funding from international cooperation organisations/entities (e.g. Horizon 2020)

Budget:

Unknown

Details about instrument financing:

No information was found during this research

Monitoring, evaluation and impacts

Is a monitoring framework in place?:

Yes

The PACQ incorporates a tailor-made monitoring, evaluation and reporting system. The monitoring is understood as a continuous and systematic process of collecting specific indicators to manage and follow up on the implementation processes of priority climate actions, identifying barriers and possible warnings of their non-implementation. This includes a list of indicators with single indicators for every involved sector. The monitoring is envisaged to be presented on a dedicated platform open to all interested parties.

Did an evaluation take place?:

Yes

The PACQ includes five main areas of evaluation: a) The Greenhouse Gas Inventory (GHGI) will be the main tool for the assessment of the city's carbon footprint and the analysis of emission reduction efforts. It will be updated every two years. b) Annually, a review of the progress of the emission reduction target against the 2015 baseline emission growth trend will be conducted. c) The Climate Change Risk Assessment will be the main tool to determine the risk of hazards, exposure and vulnerability conditions to climate change. This assessment will be carried out using the methodology determined by the IPCC and based on the guidelines of the National Environmental Authority. This assessment will be updated every 4 years, taking as a reference that the last update was carried out in 2020. d) Annually, the percentage of investments in adaptation projects with respect to the 2018 baseline will be reported. e) Annually, a qualitative self-assessment of the implementation of the PACO will be developed. It will assess how each prioritised climate change action contributes to the achievement of the SDG targets prioritised by Quito in the PMDOT.

Achieved outcomes and impacts:

Not available durign the time of this research

Success factors and lessons learned:

The plan incorporates the understanding that nature conservation and restoration plays a significant role in climate mitigation and that urban green space is necessary to address potential climate change effect. If implemented effectively, this will result in multiple social, ecological and economic benefits.

Sources and further information

References

List of references:

Secretaría de Ambiente del Municipio del Distrito Metropolitano de Quito (2020). Plan de Acción de Cambio Climático de Quito (PACQ 2020). Quito, pp. 166.

Quito Carbono Neutral (2022). Conoce la planificación climática de Quito. https://www.quitoneutral.com/pacq2020 (accessed: 10 July 2022)

Photos

@Vince Fleming en Unsplash