Summary

The Buenos Aires Climate Action platform represents a pioneering approach to urban climate action, aiming to foster citizen-driven participation and enhance transparency in addressing climate change. Launched in 2020, the platform serves as an online, interactive tool that provides open access to environmental data, including key climate-related indicators such as greenhouse gas emissions, air quality, and sustainable mobility.

Background and Objective

As cities are major contributors to global energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, there is an urgent need for urban areas to implement effective climate policies. Buenos Aires, recognizing this challenge, became one of the first cities globally to commit to achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. In 2020, the city introduced the BA Climate Action platform to accelerate climate resilience and facilitate urban climate governance. The platform’s core objectives include democratizing access to climate data, ensuring accountability in the city's climate actions, and actively engaging citizens in local climate change initiatives. By promoting data-driven participation, Buenos Aires seeks to empower urban residents, particularly youth, to contribute meaningfully to the city's climate strategies.

Actions and Implementation

The development of the BA Climate Action platform began with a process of co-design, involving key stakeholders such as the Buenos Aires city government, civil society organizations, and the private sector. This approach emphasized collaboration and consensus-building. In the initial phase, exploratory research and interviews with activists, NGOs, and policymakers helped identify critical data gaps and formulate strategies for behavioural change. Key recommendations included the need for data on air and water quality, waste management, and sustainable mobility.

Subsequent phases involved creating open-source environmental datasets, with over 30 datasets published, covering areas such as greenhouse gas emissions, sustainable mobility, and waste management. To raise awareness, the city organized hackathons and challenges to encourage the development of data visualizations and digital tools. These datasets not only enabled citizens to track the city’s progress towards its climate goals but also facilitated informed decision-making by local governments and the private sector. The platform's integration with other tools, such as the "Your Sustainable Footprint" app, allowed citizens to calculate their carbon footprints, further promoting individual climate responsibility.

Outcomes and Impacts

The BA Climate Action platform has successfully engaged a wide array of stakeholders, including over 600 residents in workshops and collaborative roundtables. It has enabled citizens to take an active role in monitoring and responding to climate risks through data-driven insights. Moreover, the platform’s transparency and accessibility have fostered greater trust in local governance, particularly by showcasing real-time progress on the city’s climate goals. By incorporating gender-disaggregated data on green employment opportunities and integrating climate change adaptation strategies, the platform has contributed to a more inclusive and equitable approach to urban climate resilience. The inclusion of youth in the platform's development has also empowered them to influence local government policies on climate change.

Sustainability and Scalability

Open-source nature and flexible platform design ensure that it can be adapted and scaled to suit different urban contexts. The integration of machine-readable data and regular updates from relevant agencies enhances the platform’s long-term sustainability, allowing it to evolve in response to new challenges and information. Furthermore, the collaborative co-creation model employed in Buenos Aires can be replicated in other cities, promoting the global exchange of climate data and fostering international cooperation on climate action. This scalability is reinforced by the platform's ability to facilitate the development of additional tools, thereby expanding its impact over time.

Gender and Social Inclusivity

The platform integrates gender and social inclusivity by providing disaggregated data on green employment, particularly for youth. It highlights opportunities in the green economy, ensuring that all residents, regardless of gender or social background, have access to sustainable employment options. The platform’s participatory approach, which involved diverse community members in its co-design process, further reinforces its commitment to inclusivity. By offering accessible, clear information on climate change and sustainability, the platform encourages individuals from all walks of life to engage with urban climate action.

Innovative Initiative

The platform stands as a groundbreaking initiative that combines open data governance with urban climate action. As the first city globally to adopt this approach, Buenos Aires has set a new precedent for how municipalities can use digital platforms to engage citizens in climate change mitigation and adaptation. By making environmental data publicly available and encouraging citizens to actively participate in climate action, the platform embodies an innovative model for urban climate governance. The integration of participatory elements, such as data challenges and citizen-driven monitoring, further enhances its innovative approach to tackling climate change.

Resources devoted to delivery

The development of the BA Climate Action platform involved significant resources, including collaboration with the Development Bank of Latin America and local civic organizations like Democracia en Red. The platform's design and implementation followed the Project Management Body of Knowledge methodology, ensuring efficient resource use throughout its development. Additionally, the city government worked with climate NGOs and other stakeholders to source the necessary environmental data, engage citizens in co-creation workshops, and promote the platform to a broader audience. The platform's sustainability is supported by ongoing updates and enhancements to the datasets, ensuring that the system remains responsive to the needs of its users.

 

Conclusion

The Buenos Aires Climate Action platform represents a successful example of how cities can engage their citizens in the fight against climate change through open data governance and participatory processes. By providing access to critical climate-related information and fostering collaboration between government, civil society, and the private sector, the platform has contributed to the city's climate resilience efforts. It offers a model for other municipalities to follow in their own efforts to tackle urban climate change, emphasizing the importance of transparency, inclusivity, and civic participation in creating sustainable urban environments. As Buenos Aires continues to progress towards its 2050 carbon neutrality goal, the BA Climate Action platform will remain a key tool in driving urban climate governance and empowering citizens to take proactive action on climate change.