CURITIBA
Curitiba is the most sustainable city in Latin America and the 14th in the world—the Sustainable Cities ranking published by the Canadian magazine Corporate Knights in 2022 points out this. Corporate Knights measures the environmental sustainability performance of 50 cities around the world. It is an international reference in studies on sustainability and corporate social responsibility.
Mayor Rafael Greca celebrated the selection of Curitiba as the most sustainable city in Latin America and the 14th in the world. He stated that he shares this international recognition with the entire population.
“Our capital combines planning and concrete actions to continue being an example for the quality of the Environment. From the “Caximba`s Solar Pyramid” around “Tree Leaf Family” (a project to remind everyone that separating common waste from recyclable waste is essential), passing through the future “Caximba New Neighborhood” and “New Inter 2” with their electric buses, we act effectively to guarantee a better future for the planet and the people of Curitiba,” he reinforced.
Curitiba was invited to participate in the ranking along with 50 other global cities, including São Paulo, Buenos Aires, Mexico City, Ottawa, Seattle, San Francisco, Berlin, Oslo, Stockholm, London, Paris, Madrid, Beijing, Shanghai, Tokyo, Singapore and Sydney.
Understand which practices gave Curitiba its title:
1) SIMA – Computerized Environmental Monitoring System
The Curitiba Institute of Informatics (ICI) developed the Computerized Environmental Monitoring System (Sima) for the Municipal Secretariat for the Environment (SMMA) of the City of Curitiba. In operation since 2004, the system records and monitors all actions carried out by the Secretariat’s research and monitoring sector.
2) Urban Planning
Since 1943, Curitiba has had urban planning actions to preserve natural areas. Currently, the city has 48 parks, one of which is an environmental conservation area, the Botanical Garden.
3) Conservation Units
Along with implementing Conservation Units, environmental legislation imposes occupation restrictions on areas with native vegetation forests. This policy, combined with implementing public conservation units, enabled the city to reach a rate of 60 square meters of green areas per inhabitant.
4) Recycling
Since the 1990s, Curitiba has been discussing recycling waste long before the subject was discussed in Brazil. Furthermore, Curitiba is the national leader in the percentage of waste recycling, separating 22% of all the waste it produces.
5) Mobility
In 2023, Curitiba is also investing in purchasing the city’s first 70 electric buses, with investments of R$200 million.
6) Solar Pyramid of Curitiba
The old Caximba landfill, deactivated in 2010, gave way to a Solar Pyramid with around 8,600 photovoltaic panels installed. The implementation of clean energy projects and renewable sources comes from the Curitiba Mais Energia program. It helps to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases, which are responsible for the increase in the planet’s temperature and other effects of climate change.
Curitiba is part of C-40, the group that brings together the world’s largest cities to combat the effects of climate change. It is also a signatory to the Paris Agreement, which aims to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.
Some of the projects being promoted in the city for a carbon-neutral future are the bus terminals in Boqueirão, Santa Cândida, and Pinheirinho, which are receiving photovoltaic panels with the Curitiba Mais Energia program, electromobility in public transport, and the increase in areas green areas of the city with the planting of 100,000 tree seedlings per year.
The municipality seeks to implement public environmental policies consistently with broad participation and support from the population.
This Post was submitted by Climate Scorecard Brazil Country Manager Carlos Alexandre de Oliveira