Urban sources of greenhouse gas (GHG)emissions in Brazilian cities are growing. At the nationallevel, the dominance of greenhouse gas emissions fromdeforestation in Brazil masks the fact that emissions fromother sectors, like Energy, Transport and Waste, are growingquite rapidly in cities. Compared to other cities around theworld, Brazilian cities have low per capita GHG emissionsbecause of the high level of renewable energy production;but as Brazilian cities continue to grow, the pressuretowards higher emissions will persist. The majority ofemissions from Energy in Brazil result from the use offossil fuels and electric power by industry. Industrialprocesses using fossil fuels will continue to be the largestcontributor to emissions growth over the long-term, butelectricity generation will produce the highest emissionsincrease in the period up to 2030. For the past threedecades, the trend has been for industries to move away fromcity centers to peripheral locations that are cheaper andhave easier access to distribution networks. However, allthe GHG emissions inventories completed to date by Braziliancities are limited to municipal boundaries, making itdifficult to assess the role of industrial emissions at themetropolitan level. One clear trend within city boundariesis that residential consumption of electricity isincreasing. As households become wealthier, the size ofhousing units tend to get larger and the number of domesticappliances increase and residential consumption ofelectricity is expected to grow drastically in the next twodecades.Transport emissions are rapidly growing, especiallyin urban areas. Fossil fuel based emissions in Brazil arelow compared to other countries due to the prominence ofrenewable-energy sources for electricity and fuels. In fact,ethanol substitutes for two-fifths of gasoline fuel.However, transport-sector emissions are rapidly growing dueto increased motorization and congestion. This is coupledwith a tendency for smaller agglomerations to grow in asprawling manner, which is directly impacting the growth ofGHG emissions, since the amount of vehicle travel is linkedto urban form, i.e. the location of housing, jobs, commerceand entertainment.A distinguishing characteristicof Brazilian cities is the high percentage of emissions fromwaste. The waste sector constitutes about 4 percent of GHGemissions on average in cities.1 A key driver of wasteemissions is the amount of waste produced and collected. InBrazil the amount of waste collected has increased by about4 percent per year since 1970. The amount of solid wastecollected in urban areas is expected to continue increasingin the next two decades due to increased generation of wasteand improvements in the collection system. This will likelyresult in an even higher share of GHG emissions for theoverall sector.Climate change impacts arewidespread. Climate impacts from global warming in majorBrazilian cities have been identified and include floodingfrom intense storms, increased temperatures, and droughts.Sea level rise is also identified as a concern for Brazilbecause 25 percent of Brazil s population lives in coastalcities. Brazilian cities are taking action against climatechange. In response to concerns about global climate change,Brazilian cities have been world leaders in defining GHGemissions reduction targets and adopted local climate changelaws. Some cities have completed GHG inventories,established reduction targets, and taken measures tomitigate emissions.
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