Outlook on climate change adaptation in the Tropical Andes mountains

Disease Programme has contributed to a 70 per cent reduction in malaria diagnosis. The Environment and Health Directorate supports capacity-building plans for environmental and occupational health, and climate change. Additionally, Ecuador has free health care, which is a particularly important provision, especially for the most vulnerable groups. The Peruvian Health Ministry (MINSA) does not have actions specifically directed towards climate change. It does, however, have actions for disaster risk management which include climate-related events. These actions include the provision of health care in the event of disasters. One example of the increasing recognition of climate effects on health is the participation of the Ministry in the Multisectoral Plan for the El Niño phenomenon. Disaster risk management policy analyses Bolivia ’s Law 300 is a framework law which addresses disaster risk management. Article 17° specifies relevant sectors to be protected or to have risks managed, with climate-related disasters being referred to directly in subarticles (Asamblea Legislativa Plurinacional de Bolivia, 2012). It is possible that areas impacted by disasters related to climate change will be targeted by funding recently allocated by the World Bank in 2016 to implement risk management and climate change adaptation programmes (World Bank, 2015b). Risk management is included in Bolivia’s Patriotic Agenda’s section Strong Production and Employment. The third strategy of the section is Environmental Quality Management and Integral Risk Management, which includes three programmes: Disaster Prevention in vulnerable

sectors; Hydrometheorological information for Risk Management, and National Sectoral System for Risk Management and Early Warning (Ministerio de Autonomías, 2013). Colombia understands risk management and climate change adaptation as complementary strategies, although the responsibility for these rests with different institutions and thus requires coordination (Departamento Nacional de Planeación, Ministerio de Ambiente y Desarrollo Sostenible, 2013). The National Unit for Disaster Risk Management (UNGRD) is the agency in charge of disaster risk reduction, while SISCLIMA (National Climate Change System) is the agency responsible for climate change adaptation. The existence of multiple organizations with partially overlapping mandates has not led to joint actions at the regional or local level, and better coordination is required between these institutions and subnational level authorities. Nevertheless, risk management has been included in some projects in the agricultural, land, hydric and energy sectors. Ecuador has mapped the susceptibility and risk of mass movement processes using mapping analysis and climate change scenarios. It has also identified

and started implementing at least three multipurpose infrastructure projects to address extreme water events caused by climate change. These infrastructure projects include creating protection for riverbeds, building retaining walls to reduce flood risk, and digging drainage channels. In addition, Ecuador’s National Plan for Risk and Emergency Prevention incorporates measures to adapt to climate change. Furthermore, three studies of flood control projects have been conducted in the most sensitive areas of the coastal region. Peru ’s National System for Disaster Risk Management (SINAGERD) is in charge of pre-and-post disaster actions and is supported at the highest political level. 46 SINAGERD coordinates the participation and responsibilities of different ministries, including the Ministry of the Environment and the National Service of Meteorology and Hydrology (SENAMHI, 2014). SINAGERD is responsible for both climate-driven and non-climate-driven disasters (such as frost due to El Niño) (see Table). SINAGERD has only recently been created and so is not tested in responding to extreme climatic events. However, it is performing an important role in implementing evidence-based responses to risk scenarios.

Case study: legal framework for disaster risk management in Peru

Strategic Instruments for Risk Management Action Multisectoral Plan for Frost and Extreme Cold Spells 2015

Multisectoral Actions Plan in the event of the El Niño Phenomenon

Law N° 29664 to create SINAGERD

Supreme Decree N° 160-2015-PCM 47

Multisectoral Actions Plan for the rainy season 2015–2016 48

67