Cuban Ministers pass plan to tackle climate change

HAVANA, Cuba, Apr 28 (ACN) In order to counteract the damages that could occur in Cuba due to climate change in the next few years, the Council of Ministers approved at its most recent meeting the State Plan to confront this phenomenon, reports Granma newspaper.

Climate change, according to Elba Rosa Pérez Montoya, Minister of Science, Technology and Environment, "is aggravating and aggravating environmental problems, becoming a determinant of sustainable development."
This Plan has as background the research on climate change initiated by the Cuban Academy of Sciences in 1991 and intensified after November 2004, after a thorough analysis and debate on the negative impacts caused by Hurricanes Charley and Ivan in the west of the country.
Since then, studies of territorial hazard, vulnerability and risk for disaster reduction begun.
In 2007, they sped up the scientific and technological research that began to form the macroproject on coastal hazards and vulnerability for the years 2050-2100, led by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment, and with the participation of 16 institutions of five Agencies of the Central State Administration. On February 25, 2011, this Macroproject was approved by the Council of Ministers.

More recently, in the year 2015, under the coordination of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment, a process was begun to update the documents already approved by the Council of Ministers for tackling climate change.
The document approved on Tuesday by the Council of Ministers, also known as Tarea Vida, has a scope and hierarchy superior to those previously elaborated on the subject. Its implementation will require a progressive investment program that will be implemented in the short (2020), medium (2030), long (2050) and very long (2100) terms.
Perez Montoya pointed out that priority areas have been identified taking into account the preservation of people's lives in the most vulnerable places, food security and tourism development.
Data confirmed by scientific studies confirm that today the climate of the island is becoming more warm and extreme; great variability has been observed in hurricane activity - from 2001 to date we have been affected by nine intense hurricanes, unprecedented in history; In addition, the rainfall regime has changed, increasing since 1960 the frequency and extent of droughts; and it is estimated that sea level has risen rapidly in the last five years.
Coastal flooding caused by rising sea levels and waves, caused by hurricanes, cold fronts and other extreme weather events, represent the greatest danger due to the effects on the natural and built heritage.
The Tarea Vida (Life Task) contemplates a set of actions aimed at counteracting the effects in vulnerable areas, such as not allowing construction of new housing in coastal settlements and reducing areas of cultivation near the coast or damaged by marine intrusion into underground aquifers.
It also contains 11 tasks, including ensuring the availability and efficient use of water as part of the drought confrontation; direct reforestation towards the maximum protection of soils and waters; halt the deterioration of coral reefs, rehabilitate and conserve them; as well as implementing other measures in programs, plans and projects related to renewable energy, energy efficiency, food security, health and tourism.
The Ministry of Science Technology and Environment is in charge of implementing and controlling the tasks of the State Plan for tackling climate change.