Science for Development Center will help cities adapt to climate change

Research carried out at the Carbon Neutral Cities CCD, launched by FAPESP and the Technological Research Institute, will develop and apply technologies inspired by nature to increase urban resilience and mitigate greenhouse gas emissions.

By Elton Alisson  |  Agência FAPESP – FAPESP and the Technological Research Institute (IPT), linked to the São Paulo State Department for Economic Development in Brazil, launched the Carbon Neutral Cities Science for Development Center (CCD) on December 10. The initiative aims, among other things, to help municipalities mitigate their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and adapt to climate change by increasing the resilience of urban infrastructure.

With a budget of approximately BRL 31 million for an initial period of five years, the center will involve more than 100 researchers and 36 institutions, including universities in Brazil and abroad, companies, city governments, state departments, government agencies, third-sector organizations and civil society representatives.

“The Science for Development Centers that FAPESP has started to create in the last four years, in partnership with universities, research institutions, state departments and other government agencies, have made it possible to channel a large number of competencies that were diffuse or not focused on solving the problems faced by the state of São Paulo,” said Marco Antonio Zago, president of FAPESP, at the inauguration ceremony of the new center.

“We’ve already approved 49 projects and invested BRL 430 million in this program. In total, in the last three years, FAPESP has invested more than BRL 1 billion in initiatives like this that seek to solve society’s problems,” he said.

The research carried out within the Carbon Neutral Cities CCD will aim to develop and apply technologies inspired by nature, such as bioengineering, in order to increase urban resilience to climate change impacts such as the formation of heat islands, water scarcity and intense storms, and to increase the capture of GHGs such as carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane.

Other work fronts will be the use of digital twins (virtual models of physical objects) and computing to monitor and improve the efficiency of buildings, and the fostering of knowledge transfer through the promotion of public policies and the creation of innovation networks and strategic partnerships.

“The Carbon Neutral Cities Science for Development Center is born with the mission to bring more resilience and urban sustainability through the development and application of innovative technologies. Science will be an ally in creating cities that are more resilient and efficient in capturing greenhouse gases,” said Anderson Correia, president of the IPT.

The researchers participating in the initiative will aim to map the decarbonization of the state of São Paulo in the main sectors and draw up specific action plans, and seek to implement proofs of concept and prototypes of a platform for monitoring, decarbonizing and increasing the efficiency of public services.

“We want to contribute to the generation of public policies and the multiplication of knowledge. In this way, we’ll be able to meet the current needs of cities to promote well-being, economic solidity and a healthy society in every sense, without compromising the lives of future generations, harmoniously balancing social, environmental and economic aspects,” emphasized Liedi Bernucci, professor at the Engineering School of the University of São Paulo (POLI-USP) and researcher in charge of the project.

Other goals of the center will be to develop experimental pilots to validate results and consolidate plans, strategies and a portfolio of initiatives focused on decarbonizing, monitoring and improving the efficiency of urban services in cities.

“Climate change becomes very tangible when tragedies like those recently recorded in Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina [states in the southern region of Brazil that suffered floods in May 2024] and in São Sebastião, in the state of São Paulo [a municipality where 64 people died in landslides caused by torrential rains in February 2023], occur. But they’re already part of our daily life, so we have to face them and do what we can to reduce their impact,” said Stephanie Costa, executive secretary of the São Paulo State Department for Science, Technology and Innovation and president of the IPT Board of Directors.

Among the São Paulo cities that have already joined the center are Sorocaba, Santos and São José dos Campos.

Located in the Paraíba Valley region of the state of São Paulo, São José dos Campos has 68% of its territory in rural areas, according to the city’s mayor, Anderson Farias. “We produce airplanes and also cheese, and we have a lot to do in terms of adapting to climate change. We were fortunate to be chosen for this partnership with the new center, but our wish is that all the other cities in the Paraíba Valley region can also participate so that we can act together,” he reflected.

The European example

Connecting government, academia, the market and civil society in a network to address climate challenges, as the new center will do, is critical to decarbonizing cities, said Paulo Ferrão, a professor at the Instituto Superior Técnico in Lisbon and chairman of the board of the European Union’s “Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities” mission, which inspired the new center.

The European continent has set itself the goal of becoming climate neutral by 2050. To achieve this goal, it has launched a mission to accelerate the transition in cities, which are responsible for more than 70% of global GHG emissions.

One hundred European cities and a further 12 outside Europe will be supported, out of 377 applicants. Of those selected, 52 have already had their plans to become climate neutral approved by the European Union.

“We found that municipalities have an action threshold of less than 10% to reach the targets. On the other hand, the action threshold for citizens, who decide to buy cars, for example, varies between 30% and 50%, and that of other sectors of society, such as companies, varies between 40% and 90%. That’s why plans like this have to involve all these links,” said Ferrão.

In order to ensure that the benefits of carbon neutral cities are enjoyed by the population as a whole, they must have good governance systems, stressed Manuel Heitor, also a professor at the Instituto Superior Técnico in Lisbon and Portugal’s Minister of Science, Technology and Higher Education from 2015 to 2022.

“Carbon neutral cities must have adequate governance systems to facilitate the economic and social development of the population as a whole,” he said.