موجودی انتشار: ابزار و معیار سیاست های عمومی شهری

Global concern with climate change has led to the development of a variety of solutions to monitor and reduce emissions on both local and global scales. Under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), both developed and emerging countries have assumed responsibility for developing and updating national inventories of greenhouse gas emissions from anthropic sources. This creates opportunities and incentives for cities to carry out their own local inventories and, thereby, develop air quality management plans including both essential key players and stakeholders at the local level. The aim of this paper is to discuss the role of local inventories as an urban public policy instrument and how this type of local instrument may bring advantages countrywide in enhancing the global position of a country. Local inventories have been carried out in many cities of the world and the main advantage of this is that it allows an overview of emissions produced by different municipal activities, thereby, helps decision makers in the elaboration of efficient air quality management plans. In that way, measures aimed at the reduction of fossil fuel consumption to lower local atmospheric pollution levels can also, in some ways, reduce GHG emissions.

The increasing emission of greenhouse gases (GHG) is believed to be responsible for global warming and recently it has been attracting the attention in many different parts of the world, resulting in increased legislative requirements on a global basis. Although localized effects are not directly generated by GHG, wherever they are emitted in the world, they cause climate alterations (Baede et al., 2001). So, the concerns about global climate change have resulted in the development of a variety of solutions to monitor and reduce emission in global and local scales. In local scale, air pollution has also been one of the major environmental problems in big cities, affecting health of thousands of urban residents (Jain and Khare, 2008; Kimmel and Kaasik, 2003; Peng et al., 2002; Venegas and Mazzeo, 2006). Other environmental impacts include damages to buildings and structures, agriculture crops, and vegetation and forests; reduced visibility; and even increasing greenhouse gas emissions (Kojima and Lovei, 2001). Therefore, the possibility of the quantification of local emissions has become an important element in understanding the problem and searching for solutions. Under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), both developed and emerging countries have assumed responsibility for developing and updating national inventories on GHG from anthropic sources. In accordance with the principle of common but differentiated responsibility, only the countries listed in Annex I of the Convention currently have commitments to reducing or limiting emissions. However, it is recognized that the countries not belonging to this group will contribute to the increase in greenhouse gases emission in social and economic development. So, amongst the commitments assumed by Brazil under the UNFCCC is the regular development and updating of national inventories of anthropic emissions and removals through sinks of the greenhouse gases not controlled by the Montreal Protocol. The first Brazilian National Communication prepared in accordance with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was released in 2004 at the 10th Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC in Buenos Aires. The document contained the first Brazilian greenhouse gases inventory and covered the period of 1990–1994 (MCT, 2004). In the methodology from IPCC, the sectors are inventoried from a national perspective and it does not allow the particularities associated with cities and metropolitan regions to be identified. The inventory produces information in an aggregate form on the energy, residue, forestry, agriculture, livestock, industrial processes and product use sectors. The desegregation of these sectors in relation to municipalities would create opportunities and it stimulates cities to carry out their own local inventories, allowing the identification of the most effective areas of action and the preparation of more feasible public policies, leading to the development of effective and efficient local air quality management plans including essential key players and stakeholders. The aim of this paper is to discuss the role of local inventories as an urban public policy instrument and to know how this may benefit countries and cities by diminishing local pollution levels and contributing to reduce, in some ways, GHG emissions whilst helping local public administration. This analysis was made based on the examples of two important Brazilian cities: Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo.

City emission inventories can be important tools for the identification of opportunities to implement public and business emission reduction policies. The possibility of adopting mitigation and adaptation projects can lead to the creation of new perspectives. The Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo inventories show how clear must be the main focus of action in these municipalities. Intervention in the transport sub-sector of the energy sector seems to be clearly necessary in the two cities, indicating that public transport has to be encouraged, while vehicle flows need to be rationalized through ring roads and by reduction of traffic congestion in the two cities. The waste treatment is also important, showing that urban growth is facing an aggravation of the residue disposal problem. In this case, it is important to go beyond conventional paradigms by improving the implementation of forms of energy cogeneration based on the residues created. The data received on inventory along with other statistical information, such as demographic and economic growth associated with urban occupation and urban expansion, allows desired scenarios to be prepared and one then identifies the need for greater or lesser intervention by public authorities through public policies. This will certainly be the most important contribution of this instrument, since it allows interventions with a local character which can both benefit the city and also fight global warming. The inventory of the city is also useful for establishing benchmarks for emission conditions in the city in addition to the proposed intervention. Moreover, since the Flexibilization Mechanisms of the Kyoto Protocol are being constantly improved, the results of these inventories together with the study of opportunities for emission reduction projects can create contributions to CDM in relation to new baseline methodologies or monitoring that is more efficient for small-scale projects. Despite the proximity of the first period of commitment, experiences and learning related to barriers to the implementation of CDM activities be very valuable for post-Kyoto developments. Analysis of barriers, as well as the appropriate technologies, sector scope options, and the complexity of the institutional arrangements are steps that can be taken after the inventory estimations for achieving successful emission reduction projects. The methodological question is also important because the more refined and appropriate it is, comparison between emissions from different cities improves and cooperation between them for the mitigation and adaptation to climate changes can be increased (Table 3). Table 3. GHG emission reduction measures and local benefits. Sector GHG emission reduction measures Main local benefits Energy Replacement of diesel or gasoline vehicles owned or hired by the local government with alcohol, CNG or electrically powered vehicles Reduction of local atmospheric pollutants Transports Rationalization of routes and modernization of bus fleet (Rio Bus Project) Reduction of local atmospheric pollutants and the transport costs incurred by the population Capacity building in transport companies to improve management measures and to increase efficiency in the use of diesel in heavy duty fleet. (Economizar Project) Reduction of local atmospheric pollutants Electricity Energy efficiency in public lighting (Rioluz/Procel Project) Improvement of public lighting with reduction of public expenditure on electricity Gas Replacement of liquefied petroleum gas with natural gas in the domestic and commercial markets Reduction of local atmospheric pollution Solid wastes Recovery of up to 42% of methane production in sanitary landfills by flaring for electricity production or vehicle fuel Future possibility for replacing more polluting vehicle fuels or for generating less polluting electricity, decreasing public expenditure on energy Land use and forest Carbon sequestration through reforestation of small cleared areas Improvement of urban landscape, better support of hills and less silting of rivers and lakes Domestic and comm. sewage Flaring or use methane generated in sewage treatment stations to generate electric energy or produce vehicle fuel Reduction of local atmospheric pollution and fossil fuel usage Industrial effluents Reuse of biogas by industry to substitute natural gas Reduction of local atmospheric pollution and fossil fuel usage Source: Based on the scenario studies developed for Rio de Janeiro. Table options Measures aimed at the reduction of fossil fuel consumption in order to lower local atmospheric pollution levels can subsequently reduce GHG emissions or vice versa. In addition, air pollution inventory may also link local authorities and research institutions efforts in promoting a better environment. Brazil already has good examples of studies involving cooperation between the Alberto Luiz de Coimbra Engineering Graduate School and Research Center (COPPE-UFRJ) and of the cities of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. In the case of Brazil and other developing countries, local inventories may have an extra advantage of great interest. Through an inventory study cities can identify economic sectors that have the potential to reduce emissions and thereby attract investments to develop Clean Development Mechanisms projects. This can benefit both individual municipalities and the country as a whole by increasing local investments and helping the country reach a better position on a global scale. A well structured and properly prepared GHG inventory is useful for various purposes ranging from management of risks related to GHG emissions to the identification of opportunities for emission reduction, and also for the encouragement of voluntary programs for the reduction or removal of GHG, the improvement of regulations, participation in GHG markets and the recognition of innovation and the anticipation of measures. Furthermore, costs are reduced in other services, such as health and the preservation of urban assets. The presentation of a municipal emissions inventory is thus a very important institutional landmark, which as well as helping the municipality develop an efficient and effective local air quality management plan, can also contribute to the country's compliance with its commitments as a Party to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).