Climate change is already a global reality. Glaciers are melting, sea temperatures are increasing, corals are bleaching and rainfall patterns are changing to an extent that water sources may disappear in Latin America and the Caribbean within a few decades. Preparing for disasters is therefore imperative to avoid development setbacks.
Despite a growing recognition of the urgent need to act on climate change, theory and practice differ substantially. While the notion of resilience--the ability to absorb environmental or social shocks--is important in the climate change discourse, there is a considerable gap between its academic definition and the practices of local governments when it comes to implementation. Even though academics have supplied detailed frameworks and climate indicators for resilience building, local authorities ignore most of them. In this short article, I will first expose the main barriers related to climate adaptation, notably in cities, and, subsequently, focus on the opportunities for the Latin America and Caribbean to overcome them.
A current assumption among scholars, notably in economics and natural science, is that the lack of knowledge on the costs of adaptation troubles decision making at the local level. While this is true, it is mistaken to believe that simply assessing costs would be sufficient to meaningfully make cities take smart action for adaptation. Good governance and functional institutions remain decisive elements towards the construction of resilient societies. When building a dam, for example, technical knowledge is insufficient, as public acceptance and ownership of the process are vital ingredients for successful large infrastructure interventions.
Latin America and the Caribbean suffer from acute social inequality and climate change will deeply affect the poorest and most vulnerable people living there. Cities, densely populated centers of economic power, have an urgent need for adaptation plans that can rapidly flourish. Three affordable and effective measures could then kick off a climate adaptation plan in the region.
First, community empowerment is an important step towards efficient decision making related to climate adaptation. In parallel, investment in social programs and inclusion of emergency situations in city budgets can reduce vulnerability and improve the population's response to climate stresses.
Second, early warning systems and vulnerability mapping are tools that deserve greater attention. Technology and social media (i.e. Google maps, Twitter, SMS, and e-mail) are allies for local authorities in facilitating communication during emergencies. Rio de Janeiro and Belo Horizonte are two Brazilian cities investing in better communication with their populations through technology. Overall, prevention continues to be the best remedy against loss of life during floods, earthquakes, droughts, or heatwaves. At the same time, recent research from the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) shows that, small and medium scale disasters can be equally devastating, if frequent. Hence, efforts must not only include the high-profile events.
Latin America, in particular, has a long way to go toward building resilience to climate shocks given that, according to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), 200 million vulnerable people live below a US$4/day poverty line. With such low levels of income, very few projects will be successful at creating lasting adaptation to climate change without also raising wages and building sustainable livelihoods. Combating social inequality is thus the top priority of the region, if serious action on climate adaption is to be taken. The recent global effort to build the post-2015 development agenda, mainly through the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), is now an excellent opportunity to remodel development plans in the region.