Source: Diego Ramírez Lema, special for El Espectador (Originally in Spanish)
“National policies and plans need to be more effective, coherent, comprehensive, and well-coordinated. The issue of risk management or climate change adaptation cannot be solved in a four-year term. A clear and focused agenda must be established, contributing with concrete actions and key development initiatives that drive transformation.””
Disaster risk management is the know how of Manizales; it is what the city does best. This explains its long-standing national and international recognition and prestige. In a bid to validate and enhance this recognition and prestige, Manizales will host the III Inter American Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation from May 20 to 24, 2024, at the National University of Manizales.
The International Center of Excellence in Risk Management and Climate Change Adaptation at the National University of Manizales, among others, will provide technical and scientific support to the Inter-American Conference.
At the heart of this Center is Omar Darío Cardona, a well-known international expert in disaster risk management and today’s interviewee. Cardona, a tenured associate professor in Disaster Risk Management and Climate Change Adaptation at the Institute of Environmental Studies at the National University of Manizales, is an advisor to the IDB, the World Bank, and UN agencies. He was also the director of Colombia’s National Disaster Risk Management Unit. In 2004, he received the UN Sasakawa Award for his contributions to disaster risk evaluation and management at the international level. He is currently a member of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
Q. It is known that Colombia is one of the 11 most vulnerable countries to climate change. In this context, what message would you send to the political, business, and academic leadership?
A. Disaster risk, although not a priority or a visible and relevant issue for political campaigns and agendas—except when a disaster occurs and emergency response or recovery processes are required—remains an intangible circumstance. However, it is also implicit and inevitable when there are vulnerable exposed elements and a lack of resilience in communities prone to potential hazards, whether natural, technological, biological, or pollutant related. Governing means being proactive; disaster risk not only requires preparation for emergency response and humanitarian aid but also recognizing the need to reduce vulnerability and promote prevention. This is especially important considering that, in addition to existing hazards, such as hydrometeorological events stemming from climate variability—some of which are exacerbated by global warming—there are also conditions of exposure and vulnerability that result from social, economic, and environmental factors. These conditions are largely the outcome of unsustainable practices, lack of prevention, deficiencies in development models, inequality, exclusion, corruption, environmental degradation, and the absence of effective governance.
Q. How important is disaster risk currently for multilateral organizations?
A. Disaster risk, its implications for socioeconomic development and the environment, and the contingent liabilities it represents from a macroeconomic and financial standpoint for a country are currently of special relevance for multilateral organizations. This is due to its effects and impact on achieving sustainable development goals and international agreements on climate change mitigation and adaptation.
Q. How would you evaluate the current institutional framework and public policies regarding disaster risk?
A. Colombia has an institutional framework and public policies to address this issue, but this framework needs strengthening due to its stagnation and lack of effectiveness. National policies and plans need to be more effective, coherent, comprehensive, and well-coordinated. The problem of risk management or climate change adaptation cannot be solved within a four-year term. A clear and focused agenda must be developed that contributes with concrete actions and key transformational development initiatives, backed by an adequate budget. The aim should be to address a problem that will have to be tackled over at least three decades due to the high disaster risk that has been socially and environmentally constructed in the country. The issue is highly relevant, and there is a need for clear and suitable proposals regarding which fraction of the problem will be addressed in this long-term national effort. This development endeavor is none other than the effective reduction of exposure and vulnerability (in its physical, social, environmental, educational, governance dimensions, etc.), which are the primary disaster risk factors in the country. If these continue to increase, disasters will inevitably occur, with or without climate change.
