Xalapa

27th April 2024

"Bhaiya, last month we saw that project, you remember? They were talking about the smart city? We were behind in urbanization, then we realized we were only making concrete jungles. So now we have nature-focused projects. We keep tweaking the words here and there, in the end, we only look for what fits in our budget, right? Today I got to know about Xalapa, a city in Mexico.

Recognizing both the climate change impacts facing the city and the importance of Xalapa’s surrounding ecosystems for helping its people adapt to these changes, local authorities are now turning to natural solutions. Partnering with the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), they are working to restore and protect large areas of cloud forest around the city under the Global Environment Facility-backed CityAdapt project.



The CityAdapt project marks Xalapa as the first Latin American city to seize the potential of ecosystem-based adaptation–an approach that uses nature to adapt to climate change. By leveraging the natural environment–like the role of trees in regulating water flow and preventing landslides and erosion—ecosystem-based adaptation can help reduce both flood and drought and is often much more cost-effective than engineered structures built to serve the same role.

“The main goal of this project is to enhance the capacity of local governments to face the adverse effects of climate change,” Sergio Angón, CityAdapt National Coordinator in Mexico, says."

Anil listens to what Sunil has to say and thinks about it. "Good that projects like these are finally happening, such a smart way! Can we do something like that in India?"

This post is a part of the #BlogchatterAtoZ challenge.