In the last 100 years, Quito has experienced an average temperature increase of 1.2°C to 1.4°C. The change in the city’s climate patterns affects ecosystems, infrastructure, water availability, human health, security and hydroelectric generation, both directly and indirectly. Faced with these impacts, the Municipality of Quito designed the Quito Climate Change Strategy (EQCC), approved in October 2009. The strategy has four components:

• Generating and managing information
• Using clean technologies and deploying best practice for adaptation and mitigation
• Education, communication and citizen participation
• Institution-building and capacity-building.

In 2010, the new municipal administration began developing an action plan to take forward the EQCC, and engaged ECOGESTIÓN, a consulting firm, for the task.

By mid-2010, discussions around CDKN support for the EQCC were well underway with the Secretariat of Environment and the Mayor and Vice-Mayor’s offices. In November 2010, the Mayor declared the Municipality’s interest in receiving CDKN support and committed to giving the climate change agenda top priority in the District.

Following a joint analysis, CDKN and the Secretariat of Environment agreed on three areas for initial collaboration:

Designing the Action Plan

CDKN provided technical assistance on methodology and facilitating workshops to prepare the Action Plan.  This enabled broader participation and analysis in constructing the Plan, following the municipal government’s initial information-gathering phase. CDKN helped to arrange the workshops and funded logistical aspects.

The five-year action plan contains a portfolio of some 50 project profiles to implement the areas, goals and strategic programmes of the EQCC. Of this portfolio, 21 ideas were granted priority for the first phase, and are now projects underway.

Vulnerability study

Strategic Area 1 of the EQCC has provided the District with “adequate information to attenuate vulnerability and achieve planned adaptation to climate change in the areas of intervention”. This has required a vulnerability study to consolidate information that is currently scattered and provide key information where there are gaps. CDKN has helped with the study by hiring a multi-disciplinary team including the best local and international experts.

A “Climate and Vulnerability” workshop held in May 2011 provided a forum for dialogue and analysis among academic, scientific, technical and political sectors to define guidelines for terms of reference to guide the work of the interdisciplinary team for a 9-month vulnerability study. The International Centre for Research on the El Niño Phenomenon (CIIFEN) prepared the terms in July 2011.

Implementing the Action Plan

To ensure implementation of the EQCC Action Plan projects, CDKN provided advice on methodology, and design and facilitated a strategy for participation. To this end, CDKN involved and engaged the other secretariats of the municipality and raised support from civil society organisations for certain critical projects. CDKN contributed to institution building in the ‘Sensitivity to Conflict, Dialogue and Public Consensus-building’ component. This work included consolidating a monitoring and evaluation system for the Action Plan.

CDKN Alliance partners Fundación Futuro Latinoamericano began this work in June 2011. Later in 2011, Quito hosted the National Summit of Local Authorities at which 80 other participating cities signed the Quito Climate Pact, a commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions at the local level.

CDKN funding: £325,000