Leaders from all five continents, including Mayor Daniel Quintero Calle, met virtually this Saturday, April 24th at the first C40 Global Youth and Mayors Forum, to discuss and implement actions to address the climate emergency that the planet is experiencing.
The Ecocity strategy represents the clearest goal that the Medellín Futuro Development Plan has to stop climate change.
Since 2020, and as a result of the pandemic, the Antioquia capital has taken a leading role in the C40 network, with a presence at the main table of Mayors for Green Recovery and just after the start of the Coronavirus. Thanks to this participation and environmental strategies, the city was chosen to represent Latin America in the C40 Global Youth and Mayors Forum.
In his speech, the mayor of Medellín reiterated that the opportunity for change is now or never, giving the power of decision back to the people, “but to create the disruptive changes we need to fight climate change, we need to bring the government back to the people and especially to our youth ”, he said.
This forum promotes collaboration on climate action and in favor of a Green New Deal.
The Medellín Futuro Development Plan is aligned with the C40 New Global Green Agreement in which governments and leaders commit to recognize the global climate emergency, keep global warming below the Paris Agreement goal of 1.5 degrees Celsius, put inclusive climate action at the center of all urban decisions and invite political leaders, CEOs, unions, investors and civil society to join this commitment.
Under this perspective, the Ecocity strategic line seeks to make Medellín Carbon Neutral by 2050, with infrastructure works that guarantee sustainable mobility, such as the 80th Avenue Metro, the great north to south bicycle route that will connect the 10 Aburrá Valley municipalities and the creation of Protected Air Zones to mitigate the effects of climate change.
Another significant progress is the technical approval of the Medellín Climate Action Plan by the C40-Cities Climate Leadership Group which outlines the road we need to follow to become a carbon neutral city by 2050. This achievement makes it the first in the country to have the endorsement of this city network.
In addition, the local leader highlighted the creation of programs on a city lever, “What for? To invest in education, to sign the climate action plans signed at the begining of the pandemic, to create development plans, to turn our cities into Ecocities and to change education”
Therefore, the Software Valley strategy brings opportunities to all young people, with the delivery of scholarships, guaranteeing free public university education, building universities dedicated to training and research in areas of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and with the delivery of computers to children in the city, to strengthen a knowledge-based economy.