Metro de la 80 and Medellin’s network of bike paths will receive advice from the UK

Medellin was selected by the British government to assess the needs for innovation in energy and greenhouse gas removal (GHG) technology.

The strategy, presented by the United Kingdom’s Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, seeks to finance climate change mitigation initiatives in developing countries through the International Climate Finance Fund.

For this purpose, the projects of Metro de la 80 and the network of bicycle paths were identified, “in both implementation and high potential for reducing gas emissions,” Medellin Municipal Office said.

The initiatives were drawn from an inventory that included the protected metropolitan area, the TRT river corridor, the electric bus line connected to José María Cordova airport, the north-south bike path division, electric taxis, among others.

In Colombia, three other cities have taken advantage of this consultancy and have budgets to implement them: Cali, Monteria and Pereira.

The steps to be part of the project started with the construction of a priority matrix that took into account the importance of the project to the city, the greenhouse gas mitigation potential and the expected benefits; “All this is in theory and according to international experience,” the administration said.

Medellin has become a model for many cities in the region and the world thanks to its unwavering commitment to the environment. The fact that it belongs and is the leader in the C40 network and now with BEIS choosing these projects, shows that we bear an increasingly greater responsibility, ”he said. Eleonora BetancourtExecutive Director of Medellin Agency for Cooperation and Investment.

In this sense, the mayor’s office hopes that, by practicing international, domestic and regional technical cooperation, emissions of pollutants and premature deaths will be reduced by encouraging more and more physical activity.

Likewise, more “safe, accessible and well-lit spaces are expected, so that the Ecocity strategy of Medellín Futuro’s development plan and the goal of being a carbon neutral city by 2050 will have an impact on the quality of life in its citizens,” said Medellín’s Minister for the Environment. .

It should be noted that international climate finance, from business, energy and industrial strategy, is a commitment of the UK government to help developing countries respond to the challenges and opportunities of climate change.

As part of this program, BEIS will provide a minimum of $ 7.5 billion for all selected projects worldwide.

With this amount, “the UK Business Department aims to achieve a fair division between mitigation and adaptation,” says Pace.

Thus, that British organization “is becoming one of the world’s leading companies in climate finance,” the mayor’s office concluded.