ADAPTACIÓN Policy Brief

This policy brief, produced by Transforma and WWF, outlines the climate adaptation challenges and opportunities for Latin America and the Caribbean in the lead-up to COP30 in Belém do Pará, Brazil. It emphasizes the need to scale adaptation financing, integrate biodiversity and human rights into national planning, and leverage Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) to build resilience in a region that is the second most exposed to climate change globally.

• Latin America and the Caribbean is the second most exposed region to climate change globally, with eight countries ranked among the 30% most vulnerable worldwide.
• The economic cost of disasters in Latin America and the Caribbean between 1970 and 2024 exceeded 365 billion USD, with meteorological disasters accounting for 53.3% and hydrological disasters for 17.3% of the total.
• Annual financial needs for climate adaptation in Latin America and the Caribbean toward 2030 are estimated to be between 14 billion USD and 21 billion USD in additional investments. However, total climate financing for the region (including mitigation) reaches up to 885 billion USD annually according to the IDB.
• Despite 17 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean adopting National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) and 16 submitting Adaptation Communications, implementation remains slow because adaptation is a long-term process and efforts have historically favored mitigation due to more visible short-term impacts.
• The Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA) provides a framework for resilience through seven thematic sub-goals (water, agriculture, health, ecosystems/biodiversity, infrastructure/human settlements, poverty/livelihoods, and cultural heritage) and four cycle sub-goals (risk assessment, planning, implementation, and monitoring).
• Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) has shown success in the region through projects such as 'Manglar Vivo' in Cuba to reduce coastal vulnerability, the 'Lomas' project in Lima, Peru, and the 'Adaptación basada en ecosistemas en la Cuenca del río Paz' between El Salvador and Guatemala.
• Recent advisory opinions from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) establish that climate inaction can be a violation of international law and that Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) are obligations of result, not just means.

APA

Galvis, Á. R., Buitrago, M. F., Carbajal, A. L., Rivadeneira, M. I., & Chabaneix, N. (2024). ADAPTACIÓN Policy Brief. Transforma. https://transforma.global/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Policy-Brief_Adaptacion_Transforma_WWF_2025.pdf

Chicago

Galvis, Ángela Rivera, Maritza Florián Buitrago, Alejandra López Carbajal, María Inés Rivadeneira, and Nicole Chabaneix. ADAPTACIÓN Policy Brief. Transforma, 2024. https://transforma.global/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Policy-Brief_Adaptacion_Transforma_WWF_2025.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Galvis |first1=Ángela Rivera |last2=Buitrago |first2=Maritza Florián |last3=Carbajal |first3=Alejandra López |last4=Rivadeneira |first4=María Inés |last5=Chabaneix |first5=Nicole |title=ADAPTACIÓN Policy Brief |publisher=Transforma |date=2024 |url=https://transforma.global/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Policy-Brief_Adaptacion_Transforma_WWF_2025.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{galvis2024adaptacin, author = {Galvis, Ángela Rivera and Buitrago, Maritza Florián and Carbajal, Alejandra López and Rivadeneira, María Inés and Chabaneix, Nicole}, title = {{ADAPTACIÓN Policy Brief}}, institution = {Transforma}, year = {2024}, url = {https://transforma.global/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Policy-Brief_Adaptacion_Transforma_WWF_2025.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }