In the context of the United Nations Climate Change Conference – COP 26, that is currently taking place in Glasgow, Scotland, the mayors of Bogotá, Claudia Lopez and of Paris, Anne Hidalgo met to strengthen the relationship between both cities and bringing visibility to the Letter of Intent signed this past September.
This document outlined actions for knowledge and best practices exchanges around the “Proximity City Concept” with the specific objective of applying Bogota’s Master Plan, which will be in force for the next 14 years.
Paris is a pioneer in the implementation of actions that respond to climate change, in 2004 the city adopted its first Climate Plan resulting in a 25% decrease in Greenhouse Gas Emissions between 2004 and 2018. In 2018 a new Climate Action Plan was launched, setting Paris’ roadmap until 2030. The plan seeks to reduce GGE by 50%, energy consumption by 35% and achieving 45% renewable energy. Because of this ambitious plan, the French capital received the Global Climate Action Prize from the United Nations which will be awarded during COP26.
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Bogotá established its Climate Action Plan at the beginning of 2021, a roadmap with a 30-year vision that will allow the city to meet mitigation and adaptation targets regarding climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 15% by 2024 and by 50% by 2030 and becoming carbon neutral by 2050. This will increase the city’s resilience to current and future changes in climate.
To achieve these ambitious environmental goals both cities are working to adopt the “Proximity City” concept, led by Paris, which becomes increasingly important because it leads to the creation of planned cities under the premise of access to basic services through short commutes, emphasizing non-motorized transportation.
In November 2020, there was an initial meeting between the French Embassy, the Planning Secretariat, the Mobility Secretariat and the Directorate of International Relations to explore cooperation opportunities around the concept of “The 15-minute city.” After this initial meeting there were several bilateral meetings where the creator of the concept of the 15-minute city, Carlos Moreno – a Colombian architect who is also an advisor to Mayor Anne Hidalgo – and representatives from the Institute for Territorial Planning and Urbanism of the Region of Paris provided support and shared experiences and knowledge in planning, governance, regulation and Paris Region’s Master Plan.
Thanks to the coordinated work between the French Embassy in Colombia and the city of Bogotá, a commitment was cemented between both cities to work together towards mutual benefit in urban and sustainable development solidifying the importance of cooperation between cities of the global north and south in an innovative fashion to promote joint development, especially regarding climate action.
