Loulé will invest in technology to create a Local Voluntary Carbon Market, which values and rewards the actions of Loulé citizens who contribute to the council's carbon neutrality, under an agreement signed yesterday, January 19, between the Loulé Chamber and CEIIA – Center for Engineering and Development.
In addition to the Local Voluntary Carbon Market, the partnership that was established will also allow «throwing the seeds so that climate justice in this municipality becomes a reality», according to the Loulé Chamber.
«The cooperation that will be created between the two entities focuses on reducing carbon emissions in mobility, on integrating Loulé into the network of carbon neutral cities, on quantifying the carbon stock and the potential for sequestration by plant biomass, but also in the intention to integrate transversal measures of climate justice in municipal management», adds the municipality.
Through the AYR platform, developed by CEIIA, «it will be possible to quantify, in real time, the carbon emissions avoided when a citizen uses a sustainable mobility mode. From there, credits will be generated in each action, that is, tradable environmental assets created that can be exchanged for new green goods and services, in the city's ecosystem, which allow offsetting emissions emitted with emissions avoided».
This is what is called the Local Voluntary Carbon Market, in which, through the new “sustainability currency”, it is intended to enable citizens to «value a certain type of behavior that they can adopt and that has an impact on their day-to-day lives ».
José Rui Felizardo, administrator of CEIIA, explained that the data «will be collected through a device placed on bicycles, cars, buses, scooters or other means, allowing for reliable reading».
«This Market allows generating this type of transactions, with a great concern that these are reliable credits, have quality and impact on the carbon neutrality of the city», stressed this official.
And if 5 years ago, through one of the credits generated, it was possible to symbolically pay for a coffee in Matosinhos, now the idea is to go further, «so that this will be, in these broader terms, a pioneering project in Portugal» and that will make of Loulé «a kind of living laboratory», as Vítor Aleixo, mayor of Loulé
The mayor of Loulé added that «the political will and human resources aware of the issues of carbon neutrality» make Loulé an «attractive partner».
Along with encouraging Loulé citizens to adopt more sustainable lifestyles, the Municipality also wants to involve the main players from the business world that operate in the city, such as CIMPOR, IKEA, Mar Shopping, Lidl, Aldi, among others.
«This is a challenge that is launched to the whole community, companies, families, citizens, everyone is called to make their contribution here», underlined Vítor Aleixo.
Still within the scope of this project, the mayor said that Loulé wants to join the eight Portuguese cities that are part of the “Carbon Neutral Cities Network”, which will allow greater visibility to the actions, but also brings “greater responsibility”.
On the other hand, in terms of mobility, it announced that a public tender will soon be launched for the launch of a shared-use bicycle network in Loulé, Quarteira, Vilamoura and Almancil, for a period of 5 years, worth 6,7, XNUMX million euros.
«There will be no change in the world if, associated with the climate transition, we are not fair to the entire community. Transitioning and adapting to climate change has incredible costs that cannot be passed on to specific segments of people who typically have no voice and are those who are asked to foot the lion's share of the bill, when they are not even the ones most responsible for the consequences. climate change», concluded Vítor Aleixo.
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