FAO & Chile Start Climate Change Adaptation Plan

On Wednesday, the Ministry of Environment of Chile said that the Chilean government and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) began preparations for a climate change adaptation plan for water resources; the plan will be formulated within Chile's Framework Law on Climate Change, published in June 2022.

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According to official statements, the Ministry of Public Works, the Ministry of Environment and the FAO initiated the plan in order to "identify and address the risks and opportunities" resulting from the impacts of climate change on water resources in different sectors, communities and regions.

Moreover, the plan also seeks to develop strategies and measures to reduce vulnerability and increase resilience to climate change events by minimizing their economic, social and environmental sustainability effects.

Environment Minister Maisa Rojas warned that "projections indicate that extreme weather events will be increasingly frequent and intense."

"The process of drawing up this plan is relevant" because there are challenges regarding water resources, such as ensuring a quantity supply for the population and productive activities, Eve Crowley, FAO representative in Chile, said.

Cristian Núñez, Deputy Director of the General Water Directorate of the MOP, pointed out that the plan will serve as a guide for the Strategic Water Resources Plans that the DGA must prepare in the framework of the Water Code reform and Article 13 of the Framework Law on Climate Change, constituting climate change management instruments at the local level for each of the country's river basins.

"The purpose of the Strategic Plans is to contribute to water management, identify water gaps in surface and groundwater, establish the water balance and its projections, diagnose the state of information on quantity and quality, infrastructure and institutions involved in the decision-making process regarding water resources and propose a set of actions to face the adverse effects of climate change on water resources, in order to safeguard water security," Núñez said.