The Council of Ministers for Sustainability and Climate Change (CMSyCC) approved the National Climate Change Adaptation Plan (PNACC), a roadmap that will seek to increase the country's resilience to climate change and strengthen the response capacity of the different strategic sectors.
Chile has taken a key step towards climate resilience, after the Council of Ministers for Sustainability and Climate Change (CMSyCC) approved in today's session the National Climate Change Adaptation Plan (PNACC), a roadmap that will allow us to face the impacts that already affect and will affect the country in this matter.
Objectives and actions of the PNACC
This tool, designed within the framework of the Climate Change Law, will seek to increase the country's resilience in the face of this crisis and strengthen the response capacity of the different strategic sectors.
Among its specific objectives, the PNACC seeks to integrate adaptation into the country's public policies, generate capacities in both citizens and the public and private sectors to adapt to climate change; incorporate adaptation into public projects (or the National Investment System) and prevent serious damage that this phenomenon is already causing and can generate in the long term. It will also reduce the vulnerability of communities and ecosystems, implementing nature-based solutions (NBS), such as the restoration of wetlands and forests to buffer the effects of extreme weather.
Another aspect that the PNACC will address is the generation of knowledge. Knowing how the climate will change in Chile and how this will affect the different sectors will allow state institutions to make better decisions and design more effective public policies.
At the same time, it will establish early warning systems to anticipate extreme weather events in order to reduce risks and act in a timely manner. The aim is to protect the population, but also the country's key productive activities, such as agriculture, mining, fishing and renewable energy generation, tourism and others.
Another pillar of this roadmap will be the coordination and articulation between the sectors that have adaptation plans, managing climate information with which monitoring systems will be created to make informed decisions based on scientific evidence.
The urgency of adapting to climate change
The Minister of the Environment, Maximiliano Proaño, welcomed the approval of the plan. "Due to its extreme geography, our country faces great challenges. According to scientific evidence, Chile is a country highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change, which makes it urgent to have an adaptation plan that reduces risks and increases resilience, in order to be prepared for the climate scenarios of the coming decades. Adaptation is no longer an option, but a necessity to guarantee the well-being of future generations", he stated.
A better future for the country
With prolonged droughts, forest fires, glacier retreat and beach loss becoming more frequent, the need for a clear and effective strategy has become urgent.
In fact, Chile is recognized as one of the countries most vulnerable to climate change worldwide, given its extreme geography and its more than 4,000 kilometers of coastline, which expose it to multiple threats, from rising sea levels to desertification.
Participation of multiple sectors and key stakeholders
Within the framework of the Long Term Climate Strategy (LTCS) and consistent with the adaptation commitments of the Paris Agreement, the design of the NAPCC involved more than 1,700 people and 400 organizations from various sectors, including local governments, academia, the private sector and communities already affected by the consequences of climate change.
According to various experts, these adaptation measures are essential to cope with climate impacts that could seriously affect water security, agricultural production, biodiversity and the quality of life of millions of people.
"Now, the key will be in the implementation of this plan. As a country we will have to ensure that adaptation strategies reach everyone, especially those who need them most, to protect the ecosystems that sustain life in the country and its productivity," said Proaño.
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