Chile drafts climate change adaptation plan

Camila Vilalva in the Santiago Times: By 2050 Chile will face warmer temperatures and less rain. As its forests recede, the country will have to confront the creep of desertification, even as extreme weather events become more frequent.  Chile’s Agriculture Ministry hopes reforestation can help stem the spread of desertification.

Climate change will not only affect biodiversity — its impact will reach agriculturalists and fishermen, as well as the energy sector and the country’s water supply, a recent report by the Universidad de Chile found.

To tackle these challenges the Environment Ministry is drafting a strategic response, which is now open for consultation by the public. Called the Climate Change Adaptation Plan, the document is divided into categories of action: agriculture, livestock, forestry, biodiversity, fisheries, health, water resources and infrastructure.

The plan is being drafted with the support of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), of which Chile has been a member since 2010. Environment Minister María Ignacia Benítez released a statement earlier this month emphasizing the need for public opinion. “It is fundamental to consider the opinion of every single Chilean in plans that are essential to environmental matters in our country,” Benítez said....

Santiago's skyline, shot by Galeno6854, Wikimedia Commons, under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license