November 13, 2024

Territory, Risk and Public Policies

Eduardo Jorge Barata e José Manuel Mendes

This work addresses a global need identified by various stakeholders, related to Climate Risk Transfer (CRT), traditionally designed for high-income groups. The exclusion of the most vulnerable in the use of CRT has created a historical gap that has contributed to social inequality. In the same way, a CRT focused solely on the technical component has neglected the analysis of social vulnerability and dialogue at the local level. This work focuses on studying the differential approach in CRT as an alternative to reducing socioeconomic vulnerability to disasters. Through the differential approach, this study contributes to the design of CRT mechanisms close to the needs and capacities of the population, promoting Disaster Risk Management (DRM) where the voices and experiences of diverse actors are considered for the design and implementation of public policies, plans, programs and projects in the field. This work theoretically and methodologically develops the approach of Differential Risk Transfer (DRT), taking Colombia as a case study. The DRT emerges as a response to the need to improve the performance of CRT mechanisms in caring for highly vulnerable populations to disasters. The DRT significantly differs from existing approaches in that it employs specific analyses of gender and ethnicity characteristics as an intersectional component of disaster vulnerability within a comprehensive DRM framework. These innovative features of the DRT are expressed in the design, implementation, and monitoring of socially inclusive risk transfer mechanisms.

DRT is put into practice through the design and implementation of a methodology for prioritizing territorial entities, resulting in 12 prioritized Colombian departments. Similarly, this work studies the perspectives and practices of community and institutional actors in the prioritized departments, identifying the areas of the country with the greatest gaps and strengths in terms of CRT. Based on this prioritization, this work focuses on the department of La Guajira, Colombia, in its final component. After analyzing CRT and DRM public policies, the needs, capacities, and willingness towards CRT of the most vulnerable sectors are identified, particularly in the municipalities of Riohacha, Manaure, Maicao, and Uribia. Using local inputs, the design of a CRT model aimed at female-headed households, indigenous communities, the agricultural sector, and the transportation sector, which represent the most vulnerable sectors in the study area, is concluded.

DRT proves to be a viable approach for improving DRM. Limitations of CRT include lack of knowledge on the subject and corruption. Dialogue with local actors allows understanding concerns that the use of insurance may create dependency and that its implementation through foreign funds may lead to loss of sovereignty and territorial autonomy. Creating a socially inclusive CRT model for La Guajira represents a viable alternative for the most vulnerable groups. Deliberations with local actors serve as a reference for different contexts worldwide, as a guide to inform national and international initiatives for financing DRM for climate-related extreme events.

Keywords: Climate risks, Colombia, Differential approach, Risk transfer, Socioeconomic vulnerability