Ecobreves – BRAZIL: São Paulo Sets Climate Change Goals

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RIO DE JANEIRO, Aug 25 2008 (IPS) - The city government of São Paulo, Brazil's most populous city, has set a goal to reduce municipal emissions of greenhouse gases by 30 percent, with a deadline of 2012 — ahead of the federal government's target date. The project, which will come up for a vote this year in the São Paulo Municipal Council, would require profound changes in transportation, which pollutes and congests this southern city.

The initiative is “very positive”, because it will encourage municipal and state governments to follow the example and because it sets a goal, guiding the actions of business and the population, Rubens Born, director of the non-governmental Vitae Civilis Institute, told Tierramérica.

It may have been easier to focus on gradual objectives to avoid challenges to such an ambitious plan in the short term, he said. But the municipal elections in October will fuel the debate, added Born.