Calac+ has a vision of healthier and more sustainable cities that reduce black carbon emissions and other pollutants by shifting to soot-free, low-carbon urban buses and off-road machinery.

 

On 19 March, the Steering Committee of the Clean Air and Climate Project in Latin American Cities (CALAC+) held a meeting, followed on 20 March by a workshop for discussing experiences and thematic progress on the project components: i) Soot-free and low-carbon buses; and ii) Off-road machinery.

The steering committee and the workshop to transfer knowledge and exchange experiences among peers provided opportunities to reaffirm the commitment of the partner countries (Colombia, Mexico, Chile and Peru) to reduce harmful atmospheric pollutants in Latin American capitals, through the deployment of soot-free engines in urban public transport and off-road machinery, in order to protect human health and mitigate climate change.

The steering committee, composed of officials from the Chilean Ministries of the Environment and Transport; Peruvian Ministries of the Environment and Transport; Colombian Ministry of the Environment; and the Mexico City Secretariat of the Environment, approved the 2018 Operations Report and the 2019 Annual Operations Plan, providing Swisscontact with points for careful follow-up.

• Road transport: one request (specifically from Colombia but with the support of others);
• Electro mobility is gaining traction, especially in the field of buses, but also in other areas (e.g. construction machinery);
• Business models for electro mobility: finding appropriate business models is key to the viability of electric buses;
• Common market for low-emission technologies: the extent to which the four partner countries can join forces to request cleaner technologies from manufacturers;
• Clean Air and Climate Coalition (CCAC): strengthening global knowledge sharing through the CCAC (including its Solutions Centre).

Swisscontact is in charge of the technical secretariat and is also the programme implementing agency.

About CALAC+
The Climate and Clean Air Programme in Latin American Cities (CALAC+) is a Swiss Cooperation (SDC) initiative implemented by Swisscontact. It promotes efficient and rapid reduction of air pollutants harmful to human health and mitigates climate change by using diesel engine particulate filters (DPF). The programme works in four cities (Bogotá, Mexico City, Lima and Santiago de Chile), supporting measures to reduce emissions of soot, air pollutants and greenhouse gases in urban transport and construction machinery. In the previous phase, SDC supported various efforts to make urban transport less carbon-intensive.

For further information:
The Climate and Clean Air Programme in Latin American Cities (CALAC+), project information ficha de proyecto, Swiss Embassy, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC)