The city of Sorocaba has taken another step towards finalizing its Action Plan, which has been carried out within the scope of... Urban-LEDS Project. On July 15th, the City's Local Stakeholder Committee held a meeting to discuss the preliminary results from the sectors analyzed and to debate the priority initiatives of the Low Carbon Urban Development Action Plan.

In the first part of the meeting, based on the preliminary results presented from the 1st Greenhouse Gas Inventory of Sorocaba, the Committee representatives discussed in detail the actions of the Transportation, Waste, and Energy sectors. Priority actions were debated together with participants from organizations linked to the Committee, such as the Secretariat of the Environment, the Secretariat of Planning and Management, the Secretariat of Economic Development, the Secretariat of Housing and Urbanism, the Secretariat of Partnerships, URBES, SAAE, and NUPLAN. Representatives from FIESP were also present at the meeting.

The first Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Inventory of the City of Sorocaba, also conducted through Urban-LEDS, was based on the years 2002 to 2012 and totaled 9,315,863 tCO2, distributed among the following emission sources:

• Energy 75,67%
• Waste 22%
• Agriculture, Forestry and Land Use 2,3%

These results highlight the importance, in terms of impact on climate change and GHG emissions, of certain activities, such as electricity and fossil fuel consumption (75,67% of the total inventoried), and waste disposal (22%). Among the priority sectors, the Transportation Subsector It was the biggest contributor to the accumulation of emissions, being responsible for 53,70% of the total emissions inventoried for the energy sector. Urban mobility is also one of the main problems faced by the population of Sorocaba in their daily lives.

In this way, within the scope of actions for the mobility sector, Sérgio Pires Abreu, Planning Director of Urbes (Sorocaba Urban Development Company), highlighted the importance of implementing the Low Carbon Development Action Plan and its synergies with the City's Urban Transport and Mobility Master Plan.

According to Abreu, the Action Plan will be fundamental for the objectives of the Master Plan to be achieved, especially regarding the implementation of the BRT Transportation System, the construction of bicycle path structures, and the improvement of sidewalks in Sorocaba.

In the waste sector, the implementation of the Integrated Solid Waste Management Plan will also be fundamental to reducing emissions from landfills. Representatives also cited the importance of increasing selective waste collection.

The presentation of the final results and the Action Plan is scheduled for August 2015.