France finances EU project to mitigate impact of climate change in Cuba

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The European Union (EU) launched Tuesday (14) in Havana a US$1.8 million project financed by France to mitigate the impact of climate change in coastal areas of central Cuba.

“This much-needed project for Cuba” will support “the National Plan for Confronting Climate Change, known as Tarea Vida,” announced the brand-new EU ambassador to the island, Isabel Brilhante, before the signing of the agreement that launched the project, which is part of the EUROCLIMA+ program for Latin America and will conclude in 2024.

Read also: Check out our coverage on Cuba

The initiative will require financing of 1.5 million euros (about 1.8 million dollars) from France. Its objective is to mitigate the danger of floods and droughts on the northern coast of Ciego de Ávila and Camagüey, both in the country’s center.

It will be implemented by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), collaborating with several institutions in the country.

According to the signatories, its objective is to “strengthen management capacities (…) for preparedness, response and prevention-adaptation to drought and flood risks, taking into account the recurrence of extreme hydrometeorological events on the northern coast of central Cuba.”

To achieve that goal, the project provides the transfer of advanced technologies for hydrometeorological monitoring and surveillance and data processing and transmission.

“It is important to support the strengthening of capacities, of the institutions in charge of hydrometeorological monitoring, the issue of risks, to anticipate predicted scenarios,” Brilhante added.

She stressed that EUROCLIMA+, which has 10 years of experience in the region, covers 18 countries, in which it has promoted actions of “sustainable transformations”, of a “resilience, which is fair (…) and which contributes to the post-pandemic recovery processes.”

The head of International Relations of the Cuban Institute of Water Resources, Fermín Sarduy, explained that the project would benefit a region where “underground and surface basins of strategic interest” for Cuba are located, due to their “importance for the supply of water to the population and key sectors of the economy.”