Colombia

Colombia country profile

BACKGROUND

Colombia, located in the northwest corner of South America, is the fourth largest country on the continent and features a diverse topography. It is traversed by the Andes Mountains with lowland plains in the east and borders the Caribbean sea, the Pacific Ocean, and the edges of the Amazon basin’s tropical rainforests to the south. The climate is tropical along the coast and the eastern lowlands, and cooler in the highlands and Andes. The diverse topography and geographic variation creates four distinct climate zones in Colombia.

The country is highly vulnerable to extreme climate events, including flooding from the “La Niña” phenomena. It is also impacted by drought, cyclones, wildfires, and earthquakes. Sea level rise also poses a threat to the coastal and insular regions. It has the highest occurrence of extreme climate events in South America, with 84 percent of the population and 86 percent of its assets in areas exposed to two or more hazards. Most of its population lives in urban settings which is only expected to increase. Estimates state that almost 90 percent of Colombia’s population will live in urban areas by 2050. Rapid population growth in poorly planned urban areas, informal settlements, and densely populated coastal areas, coupled with the effects of climate change, are already exacerbating climate hazards around the country. 

Colombia also faces an acute internal displacement situation and is the world’s second-largest host of asylum-seekers with an estimated 1.8 million Venezuelans living in the country (UNHCR). Although triggered by political and economic instability, both indicators are expected to increase with worsening climate change impacts.

INFORM RISK INDEX (2022)    

Hazard and exposure: 6.9  |  Vulnerability: 6.2  |  Lack of coping capacity: 3.7  |  Total: 5.4 (high)  |  Rank: 29

HAZARDS COVERED BY ANTICIPATION    

Population movement | Riverine Floods | Drought | Disease outbreak

EXPERIENCE ON ANTICIPATION 

• In 2019, FAO triggered a pilot anticipatory action project targeted at drought and displacement in La Guajira, Colombia. Actions were targeted at 1,003 vulnerable households, mostly composed of 7,000 indigenous Wayúu beneficiaries.
• The Colombian Red Cross is currently developing Early Action Protocols (EAPs) to minimise the impacts of floods, disease outbreaks, and complex crises like population movement and violence. The Colombia Red Cross and FAO will collaborate on the implementation of a roadmap for anticipatory action promotion in the country.