Lima, Peru joins the BreatheLife campaign:

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Lima, the Peruvian capital of 8.6 million people, has joined the BreatheLife campaign, ahead of the Climate Action Summit 2019.

Arguably the third-largest city in the Americas (as defined by “city proper”) behind São Paulo and Mexico City, Lima is focused on establishing a stronger monitoring network that reports values in real-time and to raise public awareness of the impacts of poor air quality on health.

On the ground, the city has focused on reducing transport emissions in several ways, including putting in place campaigns for to raise drivers’ awareness of these health impacts and working with the private sector to disseminate emissions-reducing technology in diesel vehicles, and restricting access to vehicles around the main square in the city’s historic centre (originally intended to improve access and mobility for pedestrians).

Traffic congestion is an issue in Lima, particularly at peak hour, and private vehicle use is high, though the city has a metro system of 26 stations, a bus rapid transit system, the Metropolitano, and in 2012 offered economic incentives for municipalities to put in place bicycle routes in their districts.

The latter effort saw recreational bike lanes created in 39 districts in Lima, running for 71 kilometres, and used by an estimated 1.5 million people in 2012, according to Proyecto Especial Metropolitano de Transporte No Motorizado (PEMTNM).

Meanwhile, the city is studying the impact of transportation on air quality under a US$50,000 grant from C40 Cities.

The world-famous culinary capital is also taking preventive action in its food and beverage sector, monitoring emissions from chimneys in restaurants that use coal to cook until July next year, as part of a larger C40-supported project that aims to improve emission control mechanisms through the development of relevant technologies.

The city is shoring up decision-making precision as part of the MINAM clean air technical group charged with preparing a report, “Air Quality Diagnosis in Lima and Callao”, on the current state of particulate pollutants and gases, the influence of meteorological variables on air pollution, and projections of the effects of emission reduction policies in the city.

The city is working on a grant of 10,000 euros from the Union of Capital Cities of Latin America (UCCI) for communication and awareness to the population, of the current state of air quality.

They will add data to the current air quality monitoring network in the Lima province, run by two entities: the General Directorate of Environmental Health (DIGESA), which has seven monitoring stations, and the National Meteorology and Hydrology Service (SENAMHI), which has monitoring stations in 10 locations.

Air quality standards are set by the national government, and air quality plans for each province prepared and approved by the national Ministry of Environment.

The Action Plans for the Improvement of Air Quality for the provinces of Lima and Callao were formulated by the Multisectoral Commission for the Management of the Clean Air Initiative for Lima and Callao, and approved by the Ministry of Environment.

Lima, host of the 2014 UN Conference on Climate Change on the journey to the Paris Agreement in 2015, is developing a Climate Action Plan of Metropolitan Lima, scheduled for completion in September 2020. Preparation is in its second stage, involving the establishment of technical baselines for adaptation, mitigation and inclusiveness actions and the development of greenhouse gas emissions scenarios for 2030, 2040 and 2050.

That responsibility falls to the Metropolitan Environmental Commission— made up representatives from the Ministries of Education, Environment, Production, Transportation and Communications, as well as National Society of Industries, Sedapal (the drinking water and sewerage service of Lima) and civil authorities— the same municipal commission concerned with air quality, ecosystem management and conservation, water resources management and green areas urban, and disposal of solid waste.

Lima is working within the Technical Group of the Metropolitan Environmental Commission (del Grupo Técnico de la Comisión Ambiental Municipal — CAM) to determine the state of the automotive fleet in Lima, as part of the Group’s efforts to measure vehicle emissions in the capital and ten  other municipalities (Miraflores, Surquillo, Villa El Salvador, La Molina, Santa Anita, Villa María del Triunfo, Jesús María San Isidro, La Victoria and Cercado de Lima).

BreatheLife welcomes Lima, Peru, on its journey to realizing its clean air and climate action plans.

Follow Lima’s clean air journey here.