The Role of Science in Advising the Decision Making Process: A Pathway for Building Effective Climate Change Mitigation Policies in Mexico at the Local Level
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Methodology
Multidimensional and Transdisciplinary Approach
3. Application of the Methodology to Our Case Study
- Optimizing routes for public transportation.
- Public lighting system.
- Cargo transportation by rail.
- Urban densification.
- Urban mass transportation.
- A census of the Public Services Department showed that there are 100,000 lamps installed in Juarez. Almost 95% of these lamps are used on secondary and primary streets, where the majority of the population lives. Lack of maintenance of the street lighting has resulted in approximately 20,000 lamps (almost one-quarter of the total) being turned off. This has, in turn, led to insecurity, especially in the most impoverished areas of the city.
- Municipal tax for the right to public lighting (DAP in Spanish) is paid by all citizens and is included in the electric bill. Unfortunately, this tax does not provide enough revenue to meet the costs of electricity for the street lighting, and it is a challenge for the municipal budget to recover the difference.
- Two types of street lighting are in use in Ciudad Juarez. The first one consists of lighting in upper-middle-class and high welfare areas that has its own infrastructure (poles, lamps, transformers, meters) and is designed based on local street lighting regulations. In these areas, a bill is issued by the national electrical utility to the municipality. For the purpose of our study, we refer to this as the measured street lighting system. The second type of street lighting is primarily found in the poorer and very impoverished parts of the city. This type of lighting lacks a proper infrastructure and is connected directly to the national electric utility grid. This makes it impossible to determine precisely electricity consumption; therefore, the usage is roughly estimated, and the municipalities are billed whether or not the lamps are in use. There are no regulations concerning the design and installation of these lighting systems, and we refer to them as the non-measured or unmeasured street lighting system.
4. Discussion
5. Conclusions
Acknowledgments
Author Contributions
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Science | Government |
---|---|
Probability accepted | Certainty desired |
Problem-oriented | Service oriented |
Risk accepted | Risk intolerable |
Anticipatory | Time at the next election ends |
Steps | Description | Dimensions |
---|---|---|
1. Identification of mitigation strategies | Identify mitigation strategies for climate change at the local governmental level. | Social, political, and environmental |
2. Classification by mitigation potentials | Classify mitigation strategies according to their CO2 impacts. | Environmental |
3. Initial Assessment | Perform initial assessment using scientific knowledge and local indicators | Technical, social, economic, and environmental |
4. Cost-benefit analysis | Analyze costs, benefits, and trade-offs to provide an attractive policy proposal regarding each dimension | Technical, economic, and social |
5. Institutional support | Access governmental and non-governmental support | Political and social |
6. Policy proposal | Propose and select a proper communication protocol for decision makers | Technical, economic, and social |
7. Decision making | Approve policy if benefits are greater than costs | Political and social |
8. Policy implementation | Enact policy | Political, economic and technical |
Mitigation Strategies | Mitigation Potential | Abatement Cost |
---|---|---|
Optimizing routes for public transportation | 350 MtCO2e | −95 USD/tCO2e |
Energy efficiency of the public lighting system | 100 MtCO2e | −25 USD/tCO2e |
Cargo transportation by rail | 200 MtCO2e | −90 USD/tCO2e |
Electricity generation by methane gas in city dump | 300 MtCO2e | −95 USD/tCO2e |
Urban mass transportation | 150 MtCO2e | −50 USD/tCO2e |
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Barraza, R.; Velazquez-Angulo, G.; Flores-Tavizón, E.; Romero-González, J.; Huertas-Cardozo, J.I. The Role of Science in Advising the Decision Making Process: A Pathway for Building Effective Climate Change Mitigation Policies in Mexico at the Local Level. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2016, 13, 451. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph13050451
Barraza R, Velazquez-Angulo G, Flores-Tavizón E, Romero-González J, Huertas-Cardozo JI. The Role of Science in Advising the Decision Making Process: A Pathway for Building Effective Climate Change Mitigation Policies in Mexico at the Local Level. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2016; 13(5):451. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph13050451
Chicago/Turabian StyleBarraza, Roberto, Gilberto Velazquez-Angulo, Edith Flores-Tavizón, Jaime Romero-González, and José Ignacio Huertas-Cardozo. 2016. "The Role of Science in Advising the Decision Making Process: A Pathway for Building Effective Climate Change Mitigation Policies in Mexico at the Local Level" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 13, no. 5: 451. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph13050451