Quito’s Climate Change Strategy: A Response to Climate Change in the Metropolitan District of Quito, Ecuador

Abstract

Climate change is one of the most challenging social, environmental and economic issues Ecuador and its capital, the Metropolitan District of Quito, are facing. It is estimated that in the last 100 years, the average temperature in Quito increased by 1.2–1.4°C, causing significant change in weather patterns and directly and indirectly impacting ecosystems, infrastructure, water availability, human health, food security and hydroelectric generation, among others. In response to current and projected impacts, the municipality of Quito adopted Quito’s Climate Change Strategy (QCCS) in 2009. In coordination with key stakeholders, including the academia, the municipality is currently implementing a series of adaptation and mitigation measures in key sectors. Actions fall under four strategic axes: (1) information generation and management; (2) use of clean technologies and good practices for adaptation and mitigation; (3) communication, education and citizen participation; and (4) institutional strengthening and capacity-building. Given the importance of water resources for the city and its surroundings, measures to face climate change in the water provision and risk management sectors are at the core of the strategy. Quito is one of the few Latin American cities that have a local policy instrument such as the Climate Change Strategy, which together with the use of the city’s ecological footprint as a planning tool, put the city at a vanguard in local responses to climate change.