Grappling with Brazil's longest recession since the 1930s, government officials are under enormous pressure to combat rising unemployment, address corruption and control inflation. Yet two recent bills designed to solve the problem are misguided attempts that could degrade the environment, diminish human rights and hurt the economy.
Brazil
WRI opened its Brazil office in 2013. We work with leaders in business, government, and civil society on issues surrounding cities and transport, climate change, finance, and sustainable landscapes. Learn more about our work in Brazil. Visit the WRI Brasil website.
Commuters use Bus Rapid Transit system in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. Photo: EMBARQ Brasil, Flickr
Brazilian Cities Begin to Reshape Urban Areas Through Sustainable Mobility Plans
Working with Brazil’s Ministry of Cities, WRI developed an easy-to-use method for cities to create plans for greater sustainable mobility. The method emphasizes public and non-motorized transport and community engagement, representing a major shift in Brazil’s urban planning. Successfully implemented plans will benefit millions of people in more than 3,000 cities.
The Challenge
In the last 15 years, Brazil’s public transport ridership dropped 15 percent, while the country’s car fleet nearly tripled and its motorcycle fleet grew five-fold. These trends exacerbate congestion and pollution and contribute to climate change. In 2012, after decades of unplanned urban growth and lack of investment in basic infrastructure, Brazil implemented the National Urban Mobility Policy, which requires cities with more than 20,000 residents to develop an Urban Mobility Plan to improve mobility and promote sustainable development. The law affects more than 3,000 cities and demands significant expertise to be successfully implemented.
WRI’s Role
Collaborating with Brazil’s Ministry of Cities, WRI drew on its experience in designing and implementing sustainable mobility projects to create a Seven Steps method for cities to use in developing Urban Mobility Plans. The method emphasizes the importance of public and non-motorized transport and outlines how to engage civil society in the planning process.
Officially endorsed and published by the Ministry of Cities in 2015, Seven Steps has been downloaded more than 10,000 times. WRI and the Ministry also offered over 20 workshops on the method, attended by representatives of more than 300 cities. WRI now provides direct support to 18 cities – home to 24 million people – in the development of their Urban Mobility Plans and projects through strategic planning and capacity-building events, training in civic engagement, and technical support on project implementation, particularly on non-motorized transport and public transport. The team also shares experiences and good practices from other cities.
The Outcome
Cities in Brazil are taking action to implement their Urban Mobility Plans and projects, reshaping congested, car-centric cities to favor active and public transport. As of August 2016, over 170 cities had already developed their plans. As a result, millions of Brazilian city dwellers will experience a safer, healthier, more inclusive and accessible urban environment. Examples of projects implemented to date include low-speed zones, expanded sidewalks, and new bus and cycling lanes. The process has changed the paradigm of urban mobility planning in Brazil by emphasizing community involvement from the outset and shifting from building roads for cars to building cities for people.
The Open Government Partnership's Subnational Government Pilot Program supports 15 pioneer local governments as they implement plans to strengthen transparency, access to open data, public engagement and accountability systems.
The Brazilian government announced an unforeseen increase in deforestation last week -- a 29 percent rise in 2016 compared to the previous year -- at a time when the nation has been seeking to eliminate deforestation in the Amazon as part of its plan to curb climate change, conserve biodiversity and protect indigenous rights.
Today, Brazil’s Ministries of Agriculture and the Environment announced their intent to restore and promote sustainable agriculture across 22 million hectares of degraded land, the largest restoration commitment ever made by a single nation.
Climate Benefits, Tenure Costs
The Economic Case For Securing Indigenous Land Rights in the Amazon
A new report offers evidence that the modest investments needed to secure land rights for indigenous communities will generate billions in returns—economically, socially and environmentally—for local communities and the world’s changing climate. The report, Climate Benefits, Tenure Costs:...
Why Invest in Indigenous Lands?
Tenure-secure indigenous and other community forestlands are often linked to low deforestation rates, significant forest cover, and the sustainable production of timber and other forest products. New WRI research shows that securing indigenous forestland is also a low-cost, high-benefit investment and therefore makes good economic sense.
At an event on October 7, WRI will launch a new report, Climate Benefits, Tenure Costs: The Economic Case for Securing Indigenous Land Rights, which finds for the first time that relatively modest investments in secure land tenure for Indigenous Peoples can generate billions of dollars in returns—economically and environmentally.
Local governments throughout Brazil have long-struggled with how to solve the air pollution, traffic congestion and safety issues caused by rising car ownership. The state government of Minas Gerais may have found a solution.