Climate change and adaptive capacity in the city of Santos

Abstract

Knowing the adaptive capacity of a given local - central objective of this work - contributes to understanding the generic capacities existing in a society that allow collective actions and its self-protection to avoid or face changes in multiple systems. The goal is to evaluate the adaptive capacity of the municipality of Santos, São Paulo, Brazil, based on the application of an index with institutional approach, the Adaptive Capacity Index (ACI) in a series of agents from the various sectors who are responsible for dictating the regulations of the municipality, observing the issue by its social aspect, conducting research on adaptation among local communities analyzing the role of institutions, culture and political changes that affect individual and/or collective in the face of adverse effects that may arise due to climate changes. According to the interviewees, there has been a slight progression of ACI components in the last 10 years in the city of Santos due to: (i) lack of integration of risk management organizations; and (ii) domain of the adaptation agenda by the local Civil Defence.