natural infrastructure
The floods in Belo Horizonte and other cities in Minas Gerais frightened the entire population.Videos showing the strength of the waters dragging cars and knocking down structures impressed the entire country. At the time this text is written, were registered57 deaths, 45 a thousand homeless people and 8 thousand, homeless. The rain cooled over the weekend, massCivil Defense remains on high alert.
The alert state was not limited to Minas Gerais. Much of the Southeast faced heavy rains, causing great inconvenience. in the Holy Spirit, for example, more of 5 a thousand people had to leave their homes, and São Paulo enteredstate of attention to flooding. About that, no Rio, a situation involving algae in the springs caused the opposite: water crisis caused by the quality of the water that reached people's taps.
These events at the beginning of the year show how poorly prepared Brazil's main cities are to deal with extreme weather events related to water. Brazil needs new infrastructure, so much so that our cities are better adapted to rain, how much for our supply system to work more efficiently.
Although, recent cases show that just installing new infrastructure is not enough. Brazil needs efficient infrastructure, sustainable and green. It can save lives.
Smart investments to adapt cities
The rains in the Southeast generate a great opportunity for us to think about how infrastructure will be built in the future. Today, our cities are clearly not adapted to the climate challenges that a warmer world demands. For example, more than half of Brazilian municipalities have decreed Emergency Situations or States of Public Calamity between 2013 e 2017. The causes were dried, floods and flash floods or landslides.
The good news is that there is a way to do it differently.. A report from theGlobal Commission on the Economy and Climate estimated, based on data from the International Energy Agency (OUCH) and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), that the world will need to invest US$ 89 trillions in infrastructure up to 2030. Brazil may have a golden opportunity to make its conventional infrastructure more sustainable and complement it with natural infrastructure.
Infrastructure can also be natural
The infrastructure of the future needs to unite the latest in conventional works, using materials and systems that limit greenhouse gas emissions, for example, with the natural infrastructure.
natural infrastructure is conservation, ecosystem management or restoration that rehabilitates the landscape to provide essential services to society, being a nature-based solution. It helps conventional infrastructure especially in the management of water resources (quantity and quality of water for consumption) and in urban planning (the floods and landslides). That is, precisely in what causes most emergency situations in Brazilian cities.
But as natural areas could help in cases of devastating floods like those happening in the Southeast? OneWRI study analyzing examples of use of natural infrastructure in various countries, like USA and Poland, shows that forests can help absorbing, filtering and slowing storm water runoff, mitigating urban floods. Strategies like green roofs, permeable floors and bioretention areas (a kind of garden that collects rainwater) can reduce between 75% until 90% of the volume of water that flows through the streets, limiting floods.
Furthermore, the natural infrastructure plays an important role in the quality of the water supply. The case of Rio de Janeiro, that faces difficulties with the quality of the water that reaches the taps, it is an example. OneWRI Brazil study showed that planting forests in the Guandu basin “filters” the water that arrives at the treatment plant, resulting in better quality water entering the supply system.
economic opportunities
In addition to helping make the transition to a low-carbon economy, the natural infrastructure also makes economic sense. The study carried out in Rio shows that the restoration of 3 a thousand hectares of forests in the Guandu basin may retain part of the sediment, making the water arrive at the treatment plant cleaner. The result is a saving of R$ 156 millions in 30 years old, with a return on investment of 13% – an economic result compatible with investments in the water supply sector. Ananalysis made for the Cantareira basin, in Sao Paulo, found similar results, and in the Holy Spirit, studies ofevaluation of restoration opportunities and the work ofReforest program show that planting forests is crucial for better water use in the state.
In the case of floods, natural infrastructure has enormous potential to reduce losses. It is estimated that Brazilian cities affected by floods between 1995 e 2017 spent R$ 180 billions in damage response and recovery activities. A smarter infrastructure, efficient and natural can help the country make the transition to a low-carbon economy, avoid harm and, most important of all, Save lifes.
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