Natural Hazards-Climate Change Adaptation

For over a quarter of a century, the OAS has supported policies and projects in the most vulnerable countries of the hemisphere to identifying and implementing cost-effective measures that identify communities, public infrastructure such as hospitals, schools and ports most vulnerable to natural disasters, and support risk mitigation measures that increase the resilience of communities to the impacts of natural disasters.   The Department also works on policies and programs in the Caribbean, with CARICOM and other partners, helping countries and regional institutions in their efforts to cope with the adverse effects of climate change through several regional and national projects.

Ongoing Projects and Initiatives

Caribbean Hazard Mitigation Capacity Building Programme (CHAMP)

Grenada Hurricane Resilent Home Reconstruction Program G(HR)²

Haiti Building Standards Development Project (HBS)

Inter-American Network for Disaster Mitigation (IANDM)

Events and News

 On Better Terms: A Glance at Key Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction Concepts. This pocket-sized booklet clarifies a few terms that both the climate change and disaster risk reduction disciplines use but often use differently, so as to avoid possible sources of confusion. This edition is a product of the Working Group on Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Disaster Reduction (IATF/DR) led by UNDP, IDS and the ISDR secretariat. More...

On February 27th, 2006, the Government of Canada transferred to the OAS CAD$2 million to support sustainable development efforts in the hemisphere. Of that total, approx. CAD$750,000 is directed to the DSD to support natural disaster risk reduction measures. More ...

Natural Hazards and Climate Change Adaptation: Programmatic Overview 

Amb. Michael King of Barbados discusses key development, conservation and environmental protection challenges facing the Caribbean, and the need to strengthen linkages among national conservation strategies, country environmental programs, institutional capacity building, and emerging opportunities in environmental leadership related to the region’s development agenda. Keynote

Featured Publications and Information Sources

The ProVention Consortium, a global partnership dedicated to disaster reduction, launches a new website with information on its activities, partners and resources for organizations and practitioners active in disaster risk management.  

The OAS partners with the IMF, WB and the IADB prepared a working paper "The Economics of Disaster Mitigation in the Caribbean: Quantifying Benefits and Costs of Mitigating Natural Hazard Losses" | Working Paper | Executive Summary  More information on Disaster Reduction and Risk Management...

Hyogo Framework for Action 2005-2015: Building the resilience of nations and communities to disasters

Policy Series: Managing Natural Hazards Risk: Issues and Challenges.

Completed Projects

Caribbean Hazard Mitigation Projects (CHMP) (completed)

Caribbean Disaster Mitigation Project (completed)

Natural Hazards Project (completed)

Post-Georges Disaster Mitigation in Antigua/Barbuda and St. Kitts/Nevis (completed)