Editing IPCC:AR6/WGII/Chapter-12 (section)

=== FAQ 12.2 | How have urban areas in Central and South America adapted to climate change so far, which further actions should be considered within the next decades and what are the limits of adaptation and sustainability? ===

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''Cities are becoming focal points for climate-change impacts. Rapid urbanisation in CSA, together with accelerating demand for housing, resource supplies and social and health services, has put pressure on the already stretched physical and social infrastructure. In addition, migration is negatively affecting the opportunities of cities to adapt to climate change.''

CSA is the second most urbanised region in the world after North America, with 81% of its population being urban. In addition, 129 secondary cities with 500,000 inhabitants are home to half of the region’s urban population (222 million). Another 65 million people live in megacities of over 10 million each. The population migrates among cities, resulting in more secondary cities and creating mega regions and urban corridors.

Rapid growth in cities has increased the urban informal housing sector (e.g., slums, marginal human settlements and others), which increased from 6% to 26% of the total residences from 1990 to 2015. Coastal areas in CSA increasingly concentrate more urban centres. Researchers indicate that between 3 and 4 million inhabitants will experience coastal flooding and erosion from SLR in all emission scenarios by 2100 considering South America alone.

A study on cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants showed that the number of coastal cities significantly increased from 42 to 420 between 1945 and 2014; they are located close to fragile ecosystems such as bays, estuaries and mangrove forests, resulting in higher concentrations of population and economic activities. This process degraded the ability of coastal ecosystems, such as mangroves, to reduce risks and provide essential ecosystem services, which help to prevent coastal erosion or maintain fish stocks. Moreover, it reduced ports and tourism, along with income opportunities.

Climate-change impacts on cities in CSA are strongly influenced by ENSO, which is associated with an increase in more-extreme rainfall events. Urban areas are increasingly dealing with floods, landslides, storms, TCs, water stress, fires, spread of vector-borne and infectious diseases, damaging infrastructure, economic activities, built and natural environments and the population’s overall well-being.

Glacier retreat in the mountains will affect water runoff and water provision to metropolitan areas such as Lima, La Paz, Quito and Santiago, which rely on rivers that originate in the high Andes. Lima, the second driest capital city in the world, is vulnerable to drought and heavy rain peak events associated with climate change. In Bogota, lower precipitation levels and a tendency towards increasing extreme events are expected in the coming decades. Hence, the protection of fragile ecosystems such as paramo (fields at 3000 to 4000 MASL) will be crucial for supplying water to the city.

SLR impacts cities located in LECZs, not only because of direct coastal flooding, coastal erosion and subsidence, but also because it aggravates the impact of storm surges, heat wave energy and saltwater intrusion. In Suriname and Guyana 68% and 31% of the population respectively live below 5 MASL, while many sectors of Georgetown, the capital of Guyana, are below sea level. Floods with increased frequency and severity of storm surges will also impact the River Plate estuary and lower delta of the Parana River where metropolitan Buenos Aires is located.

Over 80% of losses associated with climate-related risks are concentrated in urban areas, and between 40% and 70% of losses occur in cities with less than 100,000 inhabitants, most likely as a result of limited capacities to manage disaster risks and low levels of investment.

Despite consistent political and economic barriers, many cities in the region have adopted sustainable local development agendas, which work to bring about balanced urban development. The shortcomings of poor development patterns remain prominently on display in cities and present important obstacles to adaptation investment, as public investment in basic needs (mainly housing and sanitation) must be prioritised.

Cities struggle to address the immediate needs of their population while addressing longer-term needs associated with climate adaptation, emissions reduction and sustainable development. Some cities are moving forward to transformative adaptation, addressing drivers of vulnerability, building robust systems and anticipating impacts. Besides government-led adaptation planning and action, individuals, communities and enterprises have been incrementally adapting to climate change autonomously over time. Municipalities from Argentina, Peru, Chile, Equator, Brazil and Costa Rica are developing and implementing their Local Climate Action Plans, experimenting with and revealing best practices in adaptation. Both anticipatory adaptation measures—choosing safe locations, building structurally safe houses, choosing elevated places to store valuables, building on stilts—and reactive adaptation measures are used, the latter incorporating measures such as relocation, slope stabilisation, afforestation and greening of riverbanks. With variations, these cities have included mechanisms to work across sectors and actors on the understanding that it is collective planning and actions that will ensure that long-term programmes continue independently of particular city administrations.

Cities are interconnected systems operating beyond administrative boundaries. Improved collaboration and coordination are needed for integrated responses. Aside from good planning, cities need access to external adaptation funds. Climate-change adaptation requires long-term funding and investments, which are beyond cyclical political considerations. It is crucial to rethink how to ensure that international adaptation funds will reach cities and innovate. For example, member cities of Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate &amp; Energy in the region, together with Cities for Life Forum in Peru, the Red Argentina de Municipios por el Cambio Climático (RAMCC), the Capital Cities of the Americas facing Climate Change (CC35) and others, are pursuing this goal and applying directly for international grants. New funding sources are required to help local governments and civil society. Cities and locally driven adaptation initiatives can be funded by national governments and international organisations.

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