Urbanization y Global Climate Change · Web view18,6 12,5 24,8 36,3 41,8 34,5 50,6 61,4 2003 17,3 11,4 23,9 34,9 39,6 33,0 48,3 57,6 Source: DANE, National Household Survey Calculations:

Andrea LampisCIDER – Universidad de Los Andes

Urbanization y Global Climate Change:

Bogotá – Colombia

The city’s centre, viewed from the main park Simon Bolívar. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Bogota_Centro.jpg

1. Introduction

This short document presents background information on Bogotá (Colombia)

for the UGEC Workshop on ‘The Responses of Urban Areas to Climate Change’.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/09/Bogota_Centro.jpg


Map 1. Bogotá within Colombia’s map

2. Demographic data and trends

The city, officially named Bogotá, D.C. (D.C. for "Distrito Capital", which means

"Capital District"), is the capital of Colombia, as well as the largest and by far the most

populous city in the country with 6,776,009 inhabitants (2005 census). Bogotá and its

metropolitan area, which includes municipalities such as Chía, Cota, Soacha, Cajicá and

La Calera, had an estimated population of 7,881,156 according to the 2005 census.

The city’s growth rate is still impressive with an increase from 5,440,401

inhabitants in 1993 to the above mentioned 6,776,009, not counting the limiting

municipalities. This is the result of three main driving forces, namely, natural city

growth, economic migration and internal displacement.

The rapid growth of cities is a widely recognised factor of pressure on the

capacity of institutions to respond to climate change. Graph 1, presents absolute and

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bogot%C3%A1%2C_Capital_District

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Calera

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cajic%C3%A1

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soacha

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cota

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%C3%ADa

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colombia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital


relative changes of all Colombian departmental capitals between the 1993 and 2005

censuses, calculated on the basis of the total population of the country. It is interesting

to note that Bogotá it is the only main city among the main four that has considerably

increased its relative weight by 1.5 percentage points, whereas it seems that the

process of Bogotá gaining a clearer primacy within the still rapid urbanization process

is confirmed by these recent data.

Graph 1. Population change in departmental capitals in Colombia vs. Total country

Source: Dane (2005) Population Census

The two areas of the city concentrating the highest number of inhabitants are

the localities of Kennedy and Suba, with 758,8701 inhabitants (1.39% of total

population) and 843,314, respectively (11.74% of total).

1 The first data


Graph 1. Bogotá- Population by locality

Source: Secretaría distrital de planeación (2005) Sistema de Información Social para Bogotá

Graph 2, below, reflects a progressive ageing population, as well as the effect of

violence, internal displacement and economic migration on the greater weight of the

female population, especially in the age groups ranging from 15 to 44 years.

Graph 2. Bogotá - Population by sex and age group.


3. Socio-economic variables: poverty and inequality2

With no doubts there could be many more things to say about Bogotá and its

transformation over the last decade, from the astonishing fourfold decrease of the

homicide rate and of violence, up to public space and transport system development,

or a Mare winning the elections with the slogan “Bogotá without Indifference”,

centring most of its action on hunger and social exclusion.

However, for time reasons, this section presents recent indicators and historical

trends on poverty. Low-income and marginal groups are likely those who will bear the

harshest impact of GEC in many cities, together with other social groups like the

elderly or the ill.

3.1. Poverty actual trends

2 Time constraints compel me to offer just a selection of topics to the colleagues participating in the workshop. I apologise for that and hope to be able to offer a broader overview of the city to those who will be interested to that in the next future.


From 2001 income poverty has been officially decreasing in Bogotá. Still, official

data are under scrutiny and debate for a recent methodological change in the basket

of goods and services used for calculation that was deemed a political operation to

artificially reduce poverty by a number of critics.

Thus, according to recent official data the incidence of income poverty would

be 43.4% in 2004 a data that would still mean a significant 3%, roughly, above the

40.5% of 19973.

An overview of the city shows that poverty is spatially concentrated, a data that

is relevant within an UGEC perspective, picturing a city where impacts are likely to

present a marks socio-spatial concentration.

The areas south-west and south-east of the city, mostly on the outskirt belt

concentrate the highest number of income poor, with levels as high as 70%, whereas

the central and well-off locality of Chapinero has an incidence that does not reach

above 18.8%. In 2003 the local administration estimated that the city had at least 3.5

millions of people under the poverty line and 1 million below the extreme poverty line.

Recent Unmet Basic Needs (UBN) data, calculated on the basis of the Quality of

Life Household National Survey of 2003, strengthen the picture of the socio-spatial

concentration of poverty in Bogotá, placing Ciudad Bolívar (south) and Kennedy

(south-west) as the two localities with the worst indicators.

3.2. Income poverty: insights for the analysis

This section presents the evolution of poverty indicators in Bogotá over the last

thirty years. It emphasises recent trends and pays specific attention to the strengths

and weaknesses of the different approaches and policies. Within this comparison over

time, a particular space is dedicated to descriptive versus more dynamic approaches to

poverty trends and analysis in Colombia. This emphasis is grounded in the underlying

3 PDH, 2005, Pobreza y Distribución del Ingreso en Bogotá, DNP: Bogotà.


arguments of the thesis in that there still is an important gap, certainly in Colombia, in

the understanding of how the dynamics of poverty at the micro-level can determine

the exposition of households to the risk of falling into a situation of poverty.

It is interesting to start from a quote of an important analyst of the Colombian

socio-economic context to see how poverty trends in Bogotá might have been

described just a decade ago and, at the same time, to point out how unpredictable

poverty trends can be in this country and, of course, in Bogotá. In his summary to an

article on employment and poverty during economic restructuring in Bogotá,

published in 1997, just at the time the fieldwork for this research was carried out,

Gilbert wrote:

“Bogotá is seemingly a positive example of what restructuring and sensible macro-economic policy can bring to Latin America. Despite liberalisation and a vast increase in the people seeking work, unemployment rates have fallen. Large numbers of new jobs have been created, principally in the informal sector. There seems little real doubt that since 1970 poverty in Bogotá has become less common and less serious.4” (Gilbert, 1997: 1047).

In spite of the fact that Gilbert recognises that the degree of income inequality

has not been reduced, there is much to say about how the picture depicted above is

not only historically doubtful but also strongly unconfirmed by the direction assumed

by economic and poverty dynamics in Colombia and in Bogotá from 1997 onwards.

Table 1, presents the distribution of UBN poverty in Bogotá from 1985 to 2003.

Fieldwork localities are highlighted in the table and the spatial distribution of UBN

poverty is then graphically represented in map 1 and 3. Data show two main trends.

The first one concerns socio-spatial inequality: UBN poverty is much higher in

the south5 of the city than in the other areas. The second trend needs to be analysed 4 My italics. 5 The locality of San Cristóbal has been left in the centre since the table adopts a sub-division firstly used by the Health Department that is quite useful in terms of spatial understanding of differences and polarizations. However, geographically speaking, San Cristóbal belongs much more to the south than to the centre of the city. It definitely is a locality that presents strong and clear homogeneities with other


with caution because data from 1997 and 2001 are from projections realised on the

basis of the data of the 1993 Census.

The localities with the highest level of UBN in 1985 are the same in 1997 and

2001: Ciudad Bolívar, Usme, Bosa, San Cristóbal and Santa Fe, but the incidence is

dwindling quite consistently. However, as noted by Fresneda (1998: 45), “in spite of

the general decrease in the percentages per locality, the population with UBN

represented 4.1% of the whole population in 1998, while this proportion increases up

to 5.8% in 2001”6. It is important to precise that data for 1985 are calculated using the

household as the unit of analysis, while data for 1997, 2001 and 2003 use individuals.

localities of the south when social indicators and the quality of housing and infrastructure are considered.

6 My translation from Spanish.


Table 1. UBN poverty in Bogotá by zone and locality: 1985-1997-2001-2003

Zone Locality UBN poverty1985 1997 2001 2003

North

Usaquén 19.1 11,8 11,37 3,9Chapinero 8.5 6,3 5,94 1,6Engativá 16.1 8,8 8,11 3,8Suba 24.5 11,1 10,13 2,8Barrios Unidos 14.5 7,4 6,88 3,5Teusaquillo 4.5 4,2 4,16 0,2Subtotal** 9,54

South-west

Bosa 33.4 19,3 17,14 9,7Kennedy 21.2 13,3 12,64 9,1Fontibón 20.4 12,5 11,73 6,8Puente Aranda 14.0 7,7 3,7Subtotal 13,55

Centre

Santa Fe 34.6 18,4 16,33 12,8San Cristóbal 40.1 20 17,79 15,8Los Mártires 13.9 8,8 8,07 5,1Antonio Nariño 14.2 8,22 7,63 3La Candelaria 26.2 13,3 12 9Subtotal 16,68

South

Usme 39.7 26,9 23,83 14,8Tunjuelito 28.1 14,2 12,78 9,3Rafael Uribe 25.5 16 14,26 8,3Ciudad Bolívar 56.2 29,2 26,07 16,2Sumapaz Na Na Na NaSubtotal 22,83

Bogotá 23.5 14,52 7,8

Sources: 1985 data are from the 1985 Census, while 1997 and 2001 data are from the projections realised by Fresneda (2001) for the Departamento Administrative de Planeación Distrital (District Planning Department) – DAPD, 2003 data are from Encuesta de calidad de vida 2003.** Sub-totals available only for 1997.

As shown in map 2 below, in 2001 the greatest incidence (visible in the darker

spots on the map) tended to concentrate on the outskirts of the city in those localities

that where the poorest ones also in 1985, that is the localities of the south, south-west

and west, they are the same as those in map 1, showing that although not the best

indicator, UBN do help individuating the spatial concentration of poverty, rightly for

the fact of being a composed indicator within which the weight of public service

provision and housing quality is the most prominent.


Map 2 Bogotá. Total population in poverty by localities - 2001


3.3. Income Poverty, employment and income generation

Looking at poverty using independent non-governmental data, shows a picture

where the evolution in the incidence of income poverty7 over the period 1990-2003

presents two main different trends. During the time period 1990-1994, the incidence

of poverty decreases from 55.9% to 50% in 1994, down again to 48.6% in 1997.

In the second time period 1998-2002 there is a sharp increase in the incidence

of income poverty, which starts with and deepens along the deep economic crisis that

hits the country as a whole. Over just one year, from 1997 to 1998, without any

change in the method of measurement, the incidence of poverty for the groups

considered in a situation of extreme poverty was back to the level of the beginning of

the nineties, that is, close to 18% of the total population (right hand scale in graph 3).

Graph 3. Income poverty incidence in Bogotá (1990-2003)

The scale on the left-hand side represents the percentage of the poor and that on the right-hand side tha percentage of critically poor (indigentes).Source: CID/DAPD (2004).

Employment and income are not only traditionally strictly linked variables, but

also extremely sensible to the interrelations existing between the global and local

dynamics of the economy, politics and policy. This section presents key data about the

trends of those two variables over more than a decade due to their close relationship

with income poverty.7 Data are based on calculation realized by CID (2004) on the basis of the National Household Survey carried out by the National Statistic Department (DANE). Poverty levels are calculated on the basis of declared income. Sub-declarations and missed declarations are estimated according to the methodology indicated by CEPAL [ECLAC (1990)] and Martin (Martin et al., 1986), both cited in CID (2004).


The magnitude of the impact of the 1998 recession can be introduced

considering that Bogotá registered a GDP of COL $ 4.690 m. in 2003 vs. Col $ 4.675 m.

in 1994 (SHB, 2004: 29). Besides, the consideration of the behaviour of the real per

capital income of independent workers and capital income8, which fell by 44.2%

between 1994 and 2003, adds some key elements of appreciation to an already critical

picture.

Thus, the overall picture shows a very marked loss in real purchasing power and

sets the context for a better understanding of the magnitude of the impacts of the

crisis on the quality of life and human development of all social groups, but particularly

of those with low-incomes and those in a situation of vulnerability due to their assets

base and limited capacity to successfully face the crisis.

As the special report over ten years of human development points out (PNDH,

2003), the 1990-2000 decade is marked by law N.50 of 1990, better known as the

‘labour reform’. While trying to reduce the costs of hiring labour for (mostly) private

enterprises, it had the effect of hindering the creation of new jobs and, particularly,

that of immobilising the labour intensive sectors that traditionally provide an albeit

temporary escape for low-income groups from situations of crisis affecting their

livelihoods.

From table 2, it can be seen that albeit the pace of the increase in

unemployment and under-employment rates are not very different among the

different groups, there are significant differences in terms of magnitude and potential

social impacts. There is a positive association between unemployment and poverty

over the years, although the non-poor group is the most comparatively affected. If one

does not only look at the overall percentage but calculates the real magnitude of the

8 These two are usually reported together in official statistics. In Colombia, the ‘independent worker’ category is an ambiguous one since it includes both informal workers not salaried by either a public or private company and truly independent workers such as free lance professionals.


increase9, the differences among the three groups become more clear, being that over

the whole 1990-2003 period the unemployment rate increased by 66.5%, 73.2% and

75.4%, respectively for the extremely poor, the poor and the non-poor.

As far as the poor and the extremely poor are concerned, between 1990 and

1993, unemployment and under-employment fall for all considered groups. However,

from 1994 there is a raise in unemployment and under-employment rates, which

becomes sharper from 1996 to 2000, showing only a marginal decrease from 2001

onwards. Time-trends are also consistent with the data presented in the previous

section about the poverty line.

Both for a vulnerability and livelihoods analysis, it is important to underline that

the magnitude of underemployment for the poor in 1997-8 had already almost

doubled the levels of 1990, while in 2003 it had already reached a level well beyond

that threshold.

As for under-employment, the most striking data is the tremendous increase

starting rightly in 2000, at the same time employment rate began to register a mild

decrease, showing that the partial economic recuperation implies, as analysts have

pointed out, a society characterized (both at national and at the Bogotá’s level) by

greater job insecurity, a key insight for what the results of the fieldwork analysis

indicate in terms of the importance of the income generation factor within the

dynamic of vulnerability for poor groups in the city. More informal and precarious jobs

mean less access to legal health provision, less security, a lesser access to pension

schemes10.

9 Growth calculated according to t+1 =(It+1- It)/ It.10 The pension system of the country, related to Law N.100 of 1993 (the same that reformed the Health System), was reformed by Law N.797 of 2003. It is characterized by a law level of coverage, meaning that the majority of the elderly population has no protection at all. In Bogotá, for instance, only 15% of women older than 55 and 27% of men older than 60 have some kind of age or disable pension. Inequality in terms of types of pension regime are another important issue, in spite of the existence of special schemes to which only a minority has access albeit many more are entitled to them, roughly on e fifth of the population of Bogotá older than 60 who benefit from a pension scheme receives between one and two minimum legal salaries.


Table 4.4. - Unemployment and under-employment rates for non-poor, poor and extremely poor groups in Bogotá 1990-2003

YearsUnemployment rate Under-employment rate

Total Non-poor Poor Extremely Poor Total Total Non-

poor Poor

1990 10,1 6,5 13,8 21,8 15,2 11,7 19,3 23,21991 8,7 5,8 11,7 17,8 14.0 10,8 17,6 21,31992 8,3 5,4 11,6 19,2 13,6 10,9 16,7 19,21993 6,4 4,0 9,3 16,0 10,6 8,5 13,5 17,31994 7,0 4,8 10,1 18,2 14.0 9,9 15,1 18,21995 7,1 5,2 9,5 17,3 12,2 10,2 14,8 16,71996 9,3 6,0 13,8 25,5 15.0 12,3 19,0 19,71997 10,3 6,9 15,0 27,2 13,8 11,3 17,5 18,91998 14,3 9,0 20,5 31,6 18,6 14,1 24,5 29,21999 18,6 11,7 26,7 39,9 18,8 15,9 22,9 25,82000 20,4 13,9 28,3 39,8 18.0 14,9 22,4 26,52001 19,1 12,8 26,1 39,2 35.0 29,6 42,2 52,52002 18,6 12,5 24,8 36,3 41,8 34,5 50,6 61,42003 17,3 11,4 23,9 34,9 39,6 33,0 48,3 57,6

Source: DANE, National Household Survey Calculations: Centre for Development Research of the National University for unemployment and National Programme for Human Development of the National Planning Department for under-employment data.

4. Climate

The average temperature on the 'sabana11' is 14.0°C (57°F), varying from -8°C

(18°F) to 20°C (68°F). Dry and rainy seasons alternate throughout the year. The driest

months are December, January, February and March; the rainiest are April, May,

September, October and November. June and July are usually rainy periods and August

is sunny with high winds.

Frost in Bogotá

Frost usually occurs in dry season. During this period, the temperature falls below 0°C.

The lowest temperature ever recorded was -8°C (17°F) inside the city and -10°C (14°F)

in the nearby towns of the sabana.

11 The Colombian-Spanish Word for plain, literally sabana means sheet.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frost

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Bogota_hailstorm.jpg


Climatic conditions are irregular and quite variable due to the El Niño and La Niña

climatic phenomena, which occur in and around the Pacific basin and are responsible

for very pronounced climatic changes.

4.1. Climate change trends

Recent research on climate change in Colombia concentrates on issues also

researched at the international level. In particular, the intensification of the extreme

meteorological phenomena of ‘El Niño’ and ‘La Niña’, which respectively refer to

periods of extreme draught and precipitations. Key topics on the local research agenda

also are the general study of rainfall trends, glaciers melting and temperature and sea

level increase.

Global climate change as an aspect of global environmental change processes,

although a global phenomenon, is experiences by different regions with specific

intensities and consequences.

In spite of local progresses in research on climate change, that for instance

estimate the range of temperature increase from the city between 0.1 and 0.2 C° per

decade over the next century using the IPCC model, to establish mechanisms of

adaptation capable to respond to the impact of changes such as the above, it is

important to establish a better system of modeling regards of the scenarios of climate

change for the city as a whole, but even more for specific areas of it.

There are three main research lines about how climate change impacts upon

cities and its areas: these are the contribution of the city to the processes that

determine climate change, (for instance, the emissions of greenhouse gases); the

impact this process has on the socio-economic dynamics and the counter action that

can originate from appropriate public policy.

Data on Bogotá suggest the main impacts will be in terms of temperature

increase and rainfall. Attached side-effects are a greater increase in dehydration, the

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Ni%C3%B1a

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Ni%C3%B1o


insurgence of illnesses previously unknown at the height of Bogotá over sea level,

which is 2600 metres; as well as a steep increase in energy consumption for

refrigeration.

The increase of extreme weather conditions, such as storms and strong winds is

likely to worsen the already impressing tragedy of low-intensity disasters that cause

the loss of part or even all assets to a number of households ranging from 3 to 20

every time the rain fall heavily on the city, whereas policies to prevent this from

happening have progressed a lot in terms of methodological understanding and

capacity to act, but fall short of funds and institutional capacity and thus often fall back

into important but less impacting post-disaster humanitarian assistance.

A research capable of matching data between poverty and assets on the one

hand and the exposure to environmental changing or extreme conditions is a missing

point for the city, since interdisciplinary research is still moving its first steps on the

topic, although the potential is great because advancements from disciplinary

approaches are worthwhile mentioning.

The graphs below present some information on some broad indicators that

describe some effects of climate change on the city. They are overall data, mostly

showing that the city has the capacity to research and gather precise data on these

issues, although a key research issue on the agenda must be the desegregation of

these data by smaller territorial units to be able to overlap climate and, more broadly,

environmental indicators, with those concerning the use of the soil and prevailing

socio-economic and demographic trends.

The first two graphs present the trends of precipitation in Bogotá during the El

Niño of 1997 and the La Niña of 1999, which actually stretched unusually up to year

2000.

It follows a graph on the multi-annual precipitation 1961-1990 showing a

steady trend of two rainy seasons, which is a baseline data on the basis of which


alteration are being measured by institutions as IDEAM (the meteorological institution)

or by various departments of geography in the country, among which there is the

outstanding work of the National University in Bogotá.

There follow four maps that by couples respectively illustrate the El Niño and La

Niña change in the average air temperature and average yearly precipitation related to

the forecasts made by IDEAM in 2002.

There are at least three elements in these maps worth being pointed out. The

first one is the extreme variation of temperature and rainfall that reaches very high

peaks. The second one is that due to the variety of thermal floors the country presents

both extremes under either one of the phenomena. The third element is that in the

areas of greatest variation there are cities that will be most likely hit in the future from

environmental changes related to climate change but also environmental

transformations such as water scarcity due to glaciers melting.

Annexes Graphs




Yearly average temperature during el Niño


Most probably alterations on precipitations in Colombia due to El

Niño


Air temperature alterations during La Niña (°C)


4.2. Institutions and climate change

This section faces the key question concerning what is being done in Bogotá

and, more broadly, in Colombia, to understand and take action to mitigate and adapt

to the effects of climate change.

Box 1, below, lists the main institutions and agencies involved in researching

and devising actions in the face of global climate change at the local level.

Precipitation alterations during La Niña(mm)


Box 1.a Institutions and relative lines of action on Global Climate Change in BogotáEntidad Líneas de acciónDAMA12 - Departamento Técnico Administrativo del Medio Ambiente

English: Technical and Administrative Department for Environment

It administrates the SIAC13 (Environmental System of the Capital District). This consists of the set of orientations, norms, activities, resources, programs and institutions that regulates the environmental management of the Capital District.

The purpose of the system is to coordinate all governmental activities of the local government with the objectives of its environmental policy, including: planning, urban and regional development, public services provision, public works, environmental as well as sanitary control and management, civic education and culture, impact prevention and mitigation.

DAMA is also in charge of the formulation of the Environmental Management Plan. This is the policy framework that steers all activities related to environmental management in Bogotá. It sets city level objectives and goals, defines scenarios for regulation as well as the institutional tools to be applied to each of them.

The institution is also in charge of the Environmental Observatory of Bogotá14. Its goal is to manage, consolidate, generate and divulgate knowledge about elements and actors that constitute and transform Bogotá’s environment.-Observatorio ambiental de Bogotá: gestionar, consolidar, generar y divulgar conocimiento e información acerca de los elementos y actores que constituyen y transforman el medio ambiente de Bogotá.

Finally, DAMA is also involved in the Environmental Roundtable of the Central Region and in that of Bogotá-Cundinamarca.

It is among the promoters of the Local Environmental Meetings.

Box 1.b Institutions and relative lines of action on Global Climate Change in BogotáCruz Roja Colombiana15

Colombian Red Cross

-Participación en el grupo nacional de cambio climático (junto con la Universidad Javeriana, La Cruz Roja Colombiana, el IDEAM, Maloka y el Instituto Agustín Codazzi): Busca desarrollar un proceso de conciencia de las implicaciones del cambio climático en los niveles nacional, regional y local y además crear espacios de encuentro entre diferentes sectores para implementar acciones políticas, comunitarias y de investigación científica.

12 DAMA website: http://www.secretariadeambiente.gov.co/sda/libreria/php/decide.php?patron=00. 13 From the Spanish acronym: Sistema Ambiental del Distrito Capital14 Website of the Environmental Observatory of Bogotá http://observatorio.dama.gov.co/ . It contains research and planning documents on climate change issues related to the city.15 Colombian Red Cross’ website: http://www.cruzrojacolombiana.org/cruzroja.html

http://www.cruzrojacolombiana.org/cruzroja.html

http://observatorio.dama.gov.co/

http://www.secretariadeambiente.gov.co/sda/libreria/php/decide.php?patron=00


-Programa de Adaptación Nacional: Se basa en tres ejes: adaptación, reducción del riesgo y salud -Proyecto de cambio climático en la Guajira y San Andrés: Busca crear conciencia y mejorar la capacidad de resistncia de las comunidades frente a los efectos del cambio climático involucrando a las comunidades en la gestión del riesgo

Box 1.c Institutions and relative lines of action on Global Climate Change in BogotáIDEAM16 -Piloto Nacional Integrado de Adaptación (INAP):

Apoyar la formulación de programas de adaptación a los efectos del cambio climático en los Ecosistemas de alta montaña, áreas insulares del caribe colombiano y en la Salud humana; así como involucrar los impactos esperados del cambio climático en las políticas sectoriales del país.

-Proyecto PHRD: Donación Japonesa para Piloto Nacional de Adaptación al CambioClimático: Ecosistemas de Alta Montaña, Áreas Insulares del Caribe colombiano y Salud Humana- INAP”

Box 1.d Institutions and relative lines of action on Global Climate Change in BogotáDPAE17 (Dirección de Prevención y Atención de Emergencias de Bogotá)

Es la oficina gubernamental adscrita a la Secretaría de Gobierno de la Alcaldía Mayor de Bogotá, que define las políticas e integra las acciones de prevención de riesgos y atención de. Busca promover las acciones requeridas para la reducción de riesgos de origen natural y humano no intencional y garantizar el manejo efectivo de las situaciones de emergencia minimizando los efectos negativos sobre la población de Bogotá a través del Sistema Distrital de Prevención y Atención de Emergencias.

5. Final considerations

In the light of the suggestions below and considering the elements presented

plus some direct knowledge provided by more than a decade of experience working in

Colombia and specifically in Bogotá, I will try now to put forward some initial

reflections related to Professor Sánchez’s questions.

1. According to your knowledge or expertise on a particular city (or cities within a region), what is a realistic expectation of responses (mitigation and adaptation) to climate change in that city or cities during the next five years and during the next 20 years.

16 IDEAM’s website: http://www.ideam.gov.co/ 17 DPAE’s website: http://www.fopae.gov.co/portal/page/portal/fopae

http://www.fopae.gov.co/portal/page/portal/fopae

http://www.ideam.gov.co/


The first element to consider is that Colombia has not a governmental or State

policy on the effect of global environmental and climate changes. After the great

improvements of the mid-nineties, with the creation of the Ministry of Environment

and the promulgation of Law 99 of 1993 that took on board many of the insights

coming from the Rio de Janeiro UN conference, the country suffered a setback under

the presidency of Pastrana and even more Uribe, who actually disappeared the

Ministry of Environment merging its function with those of the recently created

Ministry of Environment, Housing and Local Development (EHLD). The web site of the

government has a “climate” section18 that links up with institutions researching climate

but really does not say much about related policy guidelines.

Still the Ministry of EHLD, signed on behalf of the Colombian government a

number of bi-lateral agreement, mostly related to the implementation of the Kyoto

protocol, such as that with the Dutch Ministry of Enviroment that states as the

objective:

“The objective of this memorandum is to facilitate the development and implementation of greenhouse gas emission reduction project activities in Colombia and the transfer to the Netherlands of the agreed part of the certified emission reductions resulting from those project activities in accordance with article 12 of the Kyoto Protocol.”

This undoubtedly good news because some technical cooperation is

needed to transfer know how and resources to improve and foster local

progammes.

The second element, related to a key environmental debate related to

discussions on development and political science. Colombia is not a greenhouse big

producer. It rather produces 0.001 of the world total emissions, but still is very much

affected by the consequences of this phenomenon, which is being flagged as a global

one, but that has clear western as well as industrial roots, as shown by the recent

18 http://www.gobiernoenlinea.gov.co/tema_ciudadanos.aspx?temID=78

http://www.gobiernoenlinea.gov.co/tema_ciudadanos.aspx?temID=78


WWF Living Planet report clearly showing where the worst and heaviest ecological

footprints belong.

Hence Colombia has – like Brazil for the Amazon basin – other priorities

according to many most pressing than facing climate change. This issue is a key one we

should consider if we want to make an impact and steer a new course of action in

developing countries.

Questions about who pays for it or why the long-term interventions when we

have to face hunger and death or even just the fact that the country has not got a

decent infrastructure to mobilise people around, need to be addressed with a stronger

argument than the worldwide threat of an incoming planetary disaster.

2- What are the major consequences (positive and negative) of those potential responses?

The main element, looking back at what said in point 1, is that there are still no

real responses beyond academic research in the policy domain.

But a further element, is that climate change is global on the map but still very

uncertain and at times even far away in terms of perceived local impacts, especially

form the point of view of the economic cost, which is one of the things that prompts

politicians to act, at least sometimes.

Unless GEC and UGEC issues become a pressing priority in Colombia due to

some really catastrophic effect, It seems more likely that no action will be undertaken.

Therefore, the path of adapting the legal frameworks to broaden the type of events

and social groups protected looks like one of the most promising ways of acting,

together with local pilot projects strengthening the resilience of local groups under the

threat of relevant risks, to show how much can be done with little resources.

3- What are the major obstacles and opportunities these cities have to generate those initial responses?


A major issue in Colombia is the visibility of the problem. It starts to show up on

the newspapers but, also for the reasons mentioned in the other point, does not

impacts the policy agenda as a priority.

Furthermore, being a conflict ridden country, Colombia tends to look at herself

and has a low perception of how it fits into the international web of interlocking

effects. This comprehension of course exists, especially among academics, but even

there if one looks at the proportion of funding studying local issues rather than

comparative ones, it strikes how the country shows such little awareness of the

importance of other less local perspectives.

Nonetheless, changes are taking place as an effect of GEC and this will, sadly

enough, soon provide the push to start acting.

4- In particular, what are your thoughts regarding the capacities for institutional (formal and informal) responses within those cities?

I think that UGEC issues, like environmental disasters, should be explored in

terms of participative interventions with and within local communities. Participatory

interventions are not panacea, and in many cases the rhetoric attached to them largely

overcomes what they can really offer. Still, lots of activities in terms of adaptation and

mitigation are low cost and can be done with people of local communities as co-

coordinators.

Some positions like that of the local Red Cross are also at least good subjects of

discussion because they seem to point to individual actions as a response. While

individual can have an impact on water conservation it is arguable that major impacts

on climate change can be achieved without taking on board industrial, technological

and policies or those concerning the use of natural resources in relationship to the

mode of production.

Documents

Urbanization y Global Climate Change · Web view18,6 12,5 24,8 36,3 41,8 34,5 50,6 61,4 2003 17,3 11,4 23,9 34,9 39,6 33,0 48,3 57,6 Source: DANE, National Household Survey Calculations: