Assessing carbon and water footprints in Andean cities: Comparative study of La Paz, Quito and Lima

This case study describes the first phase of the 'Carbon and water footprinting in three Andean Cities' project, which assessed the carbon and water footprints of La Paz, Quito, and Lima to support municipal climate change mitigation and adaptation. The project provided the first greenhouse gas inventories for La Paz and Lima and the first city-level customized analysis for Quito, leading to the development of action plans and small-scale pilot projects to reduce environmental footprints.

• Transport is the primary contributor to the city-wide carbon footprint across all three studied cities, with gasoline and diesel identified as the main sources of greenhouse gas emissions.
• The water footprint in La Paz, Quito, and Lima is dominated by the residential sector, with grey water accounting for over 95% of the total. This highlights a critical need for waste water treatment, as Lima treated only 10% of its waste water as of 2012, while La Paz and Quito treated none.
• In absolute terms, Lima has the largest environmental footprint of the three cities, with a carbon footprint of 15 million tCO2eq (roughly 3 times that of Quito and 10 times that of La Paz) and a water footprint of 6.3 billion m3 (about 6 times that of Quito and 30 times that of La Paz). However, on a per capita basis, Quito's carbon footprint is approximately 50% larger than those of La Paz and Lima.
• The project identified significant potential for footprint reduction through 'smart-growth' scenarios. La Paz could reduce its projected carbon footprint by 41% and its water footprint by 44%. Quito's projected carbon footprint reduction potential is 21% and its water footprint reduction potential is 86%. Lima could reduce its projected carbon footprint by 13% and its water footprint by 49%.
• Successful implementation of urban climate compatible development depends on several enabling factors: strong high-level political will from mayors, the presence of 'internal champions' to operationalise projects, stakeholder buy-in, and the institutionalisation of data collection processes in staff operation manuals to mitigate risks from high staff rotation and changes in administration.
• The project faced several implementation challenges, including political divisions between national and local governments (specifically in La Paz and Quito), lack of available data, and resistance from municipal governments to set official reduction targets due to concerns that such targets might restrict development.

APA

Tejerina, M. R. (2015). Assessing carbon and water footprints in Andean cities: Comparative study of La Paz, Quito and Lima. Climate and Development Knowledge Network. http://cdkn.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/CDKN_Andean_Cities_Inside_Story_final_web_Oct2015.pdf

Chicago

Tejerina, Miguel Rodríguez. Assessing carbon and water footprints in Andean cities: Comparative study of La Paz, Quito and Lima. Climate and Development Knowledge Network, 2015. http://cdkn.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/CDKN_Andean_Cities_Inside_Story_final_web_Oct2015.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Tejerina |first1=Miguel Rodríguez |title=Assessing carbon and water footprints in Andean cities: Comparative study of La Paz, Quito and Lima |publisher=Climate and Development Knowledge Network |date=October 2015 |url=http://cdkn.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/CDKN_Andean_Cities_Inside_Story_final_web_Oct2015.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{tejerina2015assessing, author = {Tejerina, Miguel Rodríguez}, title = {{Assessing carbon and water footprints in Andean cities: Comparative study of La Paz, Quito and Lima}}, institution = {Climate and Development Knowledge Network}, year = {2015}, month = oct, url = {http://cdkn.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/CDKN_Andean_Cities_Inside_Story_final_web_Oct2015.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }