Rio de Janeiro on Friday became the first Brazilian city to have set goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the run-up to and after the 2016 Olympic Games.
A municipal policy on climate change, revealed by Rio Mayor Eduardo Paes, sets targets for reducing emissions by 8 percent by 2012, by 16 percent by 2016 and by 20 percent by 2020.
Rio de Janeiro is the second largest city in Brazil and the third largest metropolitan area in South America.
According to the mayor, the city's main emissions come from landfills which release methane and from motor vehicles which emit carbon dioxide.
The mayor said these two areas will receive more government investments to facilitate the greenhouse gas emissions reduction.
Brazil's Environment Minister Carlos Minc took part in Friday's policy launching ceremony and praised the initiative. He said it is not only the government that must make an effort to reduce carbon emissions, but the citizens as well.
"When the citizen keeps his car's engine working properly, he is avoiding three holes: in the climate, the lung and the wallet, because a
deregulated car spends much more," he explained.
The minister also observed that separating domestic garbage for recycling is not only beneficial to the planet, but also helps generate jobs and wealth to the workers of the recycling sector.
"Today, in Rio, only 4 percent of the families separate the domestic garbage (for recycling). The climate matter is a problem of the government, the industries, the society and also of the families," he said.
Rio's municipal policy on climate change will be presented to the United Nations Climate Change Summit, which will take place in the second week of December in Copenhagen, Denmark.