Latin American countries now operate 10,000 electric busses after a joint effort from 80 cities in 13 countries.
São Paulo and Botoga have a combined 7000 electric buses in operation and is estimated to avoid more than 10 million tonnes of CO2 emissions every year.
In June 2026, the Brazilian government added 500 new electric buses at to the capital, including 1,570 battery-electric vehicles and 189 trolleybuses. It is estimated to have saved around 57 million litres of diesel annually.
Ricardo Nunes, Mayor of São Paulo, said: “We are accelerating the energy transition of the country’s largest city and consolidating a public policy that is already a national and international benchmark.
“Through a single delivery of 500 new electric buses in June, the city achieved the environmental equivalent of planting 3.2 million trees per year. This avoids the emission of 45,000 metric tons of CO₂ while cutting annual diesel consumption by approximately 20 million litres.”
The initiative was a collaboration of the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy (GCoM) and C40 Cities, a global network of 96 cities committed to climate action with aims to halve emissions.
Now operators can’t replace vehicles reaching the end of their useful life with new diesel buses which ensures a progressive shift towards low- and zero-emission technologies.
Today, the electric fleet serves part of the more than 7 million passengers transported every day.
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