Central and South America have experienced increasing extreme weather events like hurricanes in recent decades, causing thousands of deaths and billions in damages. The region is particularly vulnerable to climate change impacts due to high levels of poverty and inequality limiting adaptive capacity. Both autonomous, local adaptation and planned adaptation policies by governments are occurring, but reactive approaches still dominate and major financial and capacity constraints remain. Strengthening development efforts to reduce current vulnerability and linking indigenous and scientific knowledge can help enhance adaptive capacity going forward.

1. Lessons learned from autonomous
and planned adaptation experiences
in Central and South America:
Main results of Chapter 27
Central and South America
of the IPCC AR5 WG2.
Dr. Edwin J. Castellanos
Centro de Estudios Ambientales y de Biodiversidad
Universidad del Valle de Guatemala
Third International Climate Change
Adaptation Conference

2.  Between 1961 and 2001, 10 large-scale hurricanes resulted in
18,816 dead, 3,783,279 displaced and almost 14 billion US dollars
in economic losses in Central America (Girot, 2002).
 From 2000 to 2009 the number of hurricanes in the Caribbean basin
increased to 36 from 9 in the previous decade.
 During 2000-2010, almost 630 weather and climate extreme events
occurred in CA and SA leaving near to 16,000 fatalities and 46.6
million people affected. (IPCC WGII, 2014).
 The estimated cost of damage from these extreme climate events in
the last ten years exceeds US$40 billion.
 Mitch (Nov. 1998) caused 9,214 deaths with Honduras most
affected.
 Agatha (Jun 2010) combined with a volcanic eruption killing 165
people in Guatemala.
2
A history of storms, eruptions and
earthquakes in CA and SA.

3. Extreme hydrometeorological events in
Latin America and the Caribbean
3
ECLAC, 2010.
The International Disasters Database

4.  Central America defined by Giorgi (2006) as a climate change hot
spot in the tropics.
4
Augmented variability in a region with
high climatic variability
RCCI=
Regional
Climate
Change
Index

5. High vulnerability from high
poverty levels
 There is still a high and persistent level of poverty
in most countries resulting in high vulnerability
and increasing risk to climate variability and
change.
 Associated with inequality
are disparities in access to
water, sanitation and
adequate housing for the
most vulnerable groups –
for example indigenous
peoples, Afro-descendants,
children and women living
in poverty- and in their
exposure to the effects of
climate change.
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IPCC, WGII ch. 27

6. Low Adaptive Capacity
 The region faces significant challenges in terms of environmental
sustainability and adaptability to a changing climate, resulting from
the specific characteristics of its population and economy already
discussed and aggravated with a significant deficit in infrastructure
development.
 The reduction in energy consumption and the integration of
renewable energies in their energetic matrix is a key issue for all
these countries in order to sustain their development and growth
and therefore increase their adaptive capacity.
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7. Traditional knowledge as base of
adaptive capacity
 A major focus on traditions and their transmission may actually
indicate potential adaption potentials in remote and economically
poor regions of SA and CA.
 Adaptive capacity can be enhanced by linking indigenous
knowledge and scientific knowledge.
 Such a potential does not dismiss the fact that the nature of future
challenges may actually not be compared to past climate variability
(e.g. glacier retreat in the Andes).
7
Icon for
Swainson’s
hawk (Azacuán),
used for rain
forecasting.

8. Autonomous adaptation at
individual and community level
 While a lot of efforts are invested in national and regional policy
initiatives, most of the final adaptation efforts will be local.
 Autonomous adaptation experience are mainly realized at local
levels (individual or communitarian) with examples found for
instance for rural communities in Honduras (McSweeney and
Coomes, 2011), indigenous communities in Bolivia (Valdivia et al.,
2010) and coffee agroforestry systems in Brazil (De Souza et al.,
2012).
 These adaptation processes do not always respond specifically to
climate forcing. For instance, the agricultural sector adapts rapidly
to economic stressors, while, despite a clear perception of climate
risks, it may last longer before responding to climate changes
(Tucker et al. , 2010).
8
Drying coffee in a
greenhouse (Tucker).

9. Planned adaptation by
governments
 Responses to disasters in the region are
currently mainly reactive rather than preventive.
 Some early warning systems are being
implemented, but the capacity of
responding to a warning is often limited,
particularly among poor populations.
 Forward-looking learning (anticipatory process),
as a contrast to learning by shock (reactive process), has been
found as a key element for adaptation and resilience
 Actions combining public communication (and education), public
decision-maker capacity-building and a synergetic development-
adaptation funding will be key to sustain the adaptation process
that CA and SA require to face future climate change challenges.
9
Early warning
system for flooding.

10. International networks and exchange of
knowledge and experience
 Planned adaptation policies promoted by governments have been
strengthened by the participation in international networks, where
experience and knowledge can be exchanged.
 As an example, the C40 Cities- Climate Leadership Group or
ICLEI include Bogota (Colombia), Buenos Aires (Argentina),
Caracas (Venezuela), Curitiba, Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo
(Brazil), Lime (Peru) and Santiago de Chile (Chile).
 At a regional policy level, an example of intergovernmental
initiatives in SA and CA is the ‘Ibero-American Programme on
Adaptation to Climate Change’ (PIACC), developed by the Ibero-
American Network of Climate Change Offices (RIOCC)
 The Central American Commission for Environment and
Development (CCAD) brings together the environmental ministries
of the Central American Integration System (Sistema de la
Integración Centroamericana (SICA)) that released its climate
change strategy in 2010
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11. Major constraints and
resources needed
 In CA and SA, many societal issues are strongly connected to
development goals and are often considered priority in comparison
to adaptation efforts to climate change.
 Considering the limited financial resources of some states in CA
and SA, long-term planning and the related human and financial
resource needs may be seen as conflicting with present social
deficit in the welfare of the population.
 Even if funding for adaptation is available, the overarching problem
is the lack of capacity and/or willingness to address the risks,
especially those threatening lower income groups.
 A major barrier to adaptation is the perception of risks. While being
a necessary condition, perception may not be the main driver for
initiating an adaptation process.
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12. The first step is to reduce the
vulnerability to present climate.
 The development and implementation of systemic
adaptation strategies, involving institutional, social,
ecosystem, environmental, financial and capacity
components, to cope with present climate extreme events is
a key step toward climate change adaptation.
 Development and adaptation strategies should be tackled
together in developing countries such as SA and CA,
focusing on strategies to reduce vulnerability.
 Various examples demonstrate possible synergies between
development, adaptation and mitigation planning, which can
help local communities and governments to allocate
efficiently available resources in the design of strategies to
reduce vulnerability.
12
Water storage
at the
household
level.

13. Thank you for your attention
ecastell@uvg.edu.gt
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