Cora Cook
Michael Dwyer
GEOG 3682
09/14/18
Paper #1: Sustainable Transport and Air Quality
Unfortunately, climate change has become a mainstream topic that is impacting everyone on Earth whether it is visible or not. Despite our dreamt of efforts to make a difference in the world, most everyone is guilty of a having a larger carbon footprint than they would like to admit. The topic is becoming more relevant every day and many places around the world are trying to do their part to halt further damage to our atmosphere.
It was for this reason that on December 23, 2009, Mexico was approved for the Sustainable Transport and Air Quality project by the World Bank. Mexico procured a grant of $5.38 USD million, in which only about $5.20 USD million was dispersed. The problem of climate change is urgent and we must do our part to slow the process. This project, in particular, does not mention more about Felipe Targa Rodríguez or Arturo Ardila Gomez, who was listed as team leaders at different stages of the Sustainable Transport and Air Quality project of Mexico.
With that said, changes finally had to be made with a bit of external support from the World Bank. This project was put into motion due to the fact that Latin America and Mexico was producing huge amounts of Greenhouse Gases in the transportation department; making itself one of the top contributors of emissions in the world. This was triggered by the dramatic increase in urban growth. Not only has the population been dramatically increasing, the number of car ownership has grown as well. The issue of commuting has been a side effect of urban sprawl and has severely contributed to higher rates of pollutants in the atmosphere. In short, the Sustainable Transport and Air Quality project itself was implemented with the hopes to value the quality of citizen life in addition to global and local environmental issues. By minimizing Greenhouse Gas emissions, making changes in transportation policy, as well as getting more people to participate in public transit (or any form of low impact transportation such as walking or riding bikes) was the focal point of this project. Those three elements would be key features to make this project work and ultimately benefit not only the public but also the environment. “Positive long-term impacts are expected due to the reduction in growth of traffic and related emissions and increased accessibility, safety and quality of public transport aimed at poor population.” (Integrated Safeguards Data Sheet Appraisal Stage pg.5) A transportation reboot is an extreme project for cities to take on, that impacts a wide range of people. That is why a project of this magnitude requires the help of the World Bank.
In the grand scheme of things, this project was successful. Of course, there is still much work that needs to be done and the efforts towards protecting our environment should be ever evolving. With that said, in this project’s Implementation and Completion Ratings, it was consistently listed as “moderately satisfactory” in both in the implementation as well as the completion sectors. The final evaluation deems this project as a success, in the respect that it did, in fact, reduce the use of energy and ultimately lowered Greenhouse Gas emissions in the various regions of Mexico. As the use of energy decreases over time, this will, in turn, initiate further policy change that continues to benefit public transportation and the communities utilizing the transportation. Policy changes include the expansion of pedestrian and cycling routes. This project was very ambitious and that is why routes of public transit are still under development in terms of expansion outside of urban areas. Expanding into more rural areas would provide people of most likely lower incomes the opportunity to be included and circulate in more urban areas. This could be an area that will change with policies constantly evolving over time. The grant itself was able to finance four different territories of Mexico, those being: Juarez, Puebla, Monterrey, and Leon. This grant also contributed to the growth in bicycle usage, which certainly assists in the decrease of Greenhouse Gas emissions. In the World Bank’s Implementation and Completion Ratings, it did not mention the inclusiveness of the population other than “the client did not report any robust evidence on poverty, gender or social-development impact.” (pg.30) In the future undertakings, there need to be methods put into action to ensure that public needs are prioritized and accessible, especially those of lower income that could utilize and benefit from this project model. It did, however, have positive outcomes regarding the urban transportation systems. This project helped create more long-term occupation of this expanded transit movement. This project also sparked conversation for further policy adjustments, “inducing policy changes in the long term in favor of sustainable urban mobility projects.” (pg.31)
The Implementation and Completion Report mentions that the project’s activities should have been more precisely constructed and straightforward for implementation ease. This meaning there could have been recurrent coordination between the participating cities and the bank itself. Minimizing the middlemen should have been a priority in order to keep transaction costs low. Setting more achievable goals rather than overly ambitious ones… making sure appraisals are accurate would be a way to make realistic commitments. This project proved that replacing congested forms of transportation with Modal Shift greatly decreases CO2 emissions, even if it is complicated. Furthermore, surveys should be utilized as necessary, in order to maintain a realistic idea of what is to be expected of the public. Next, it is important that the bank provides some supervision on the project, in addition to a realistic timescale to discuss and finalize contracts. All of the listed notes were learned through experiences and will help benefit future projects.
In my opinion, this project was and has become even more relevant as time has gone on. Every day we hear it or read it in the news how severely Greenhouse Gases are deteriorating our atmosphere, and how that equates to climate change. According to the American Geophysical Union, “The rapid increase in concentrations of greenhouse gases since the industrial period began has given rise to concern over potential resultant climate changes.” At the rate we are going it will be impossible to ever mend the damages that have been done; but through projects such as the Sustainable Transport and Air Quality, we can help prolong the process of deterioration. That is why it is so admirable that a place in the world such as Mexico was able to recognize the severe impacts they were having on the environment nearly a decade ago and take responsibility in order to improve their position in the global community. Although the outcomes of this project were not dramatic in every sector of the project, they still made a monumental difference in the decrease of their Greenhouse Gas emissions. I think there is something to be said about one project being an introduction for further opportunities to arise. This is an action that can only encourage growth and awareness in this society.
Citations
Ledley, Tamara S., et al. “Climate Change and Greenhouse Gases.” Earth's Future,
Wiley-Blackwell, 3 June
2011, agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1029/99EO00325.
Pérez, Fiamma. “IMPLEMENTATION COMPLETION AND RESULTS REPORT.”
Documents.worldbank.org.,2016,
documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/491021467994608181/pdf/ICR3622-ICR-P114012-PUBLIC.pdf.
Unknown. “INTEGRATED SAFEGUARDS DATASHEET APPRAISAL STAGE.”
Documents.worldbank.org, 2009,
documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/483051468279336684/pdf/Integrated0Saf1ppraisal0Stage01GEF1.pdf.