Climate change, vulnerability, social conicts and human
displacement in the Andes: The case of Huaytapallana glacier
Cambio climático, vulnerabilidad, conictos sociales y
desplazamiento humano en los Andes: El caso del glaciar
Huaytapallana
Recibido: 18 Setiembre 2019 | Aceptado: 20 Enero 2020
Téolo Altamirano
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1
Ponticia Universidad Católica del Perú, Ciudad de Lima, Perú
Autor de correspondencia. Correo electrónico: taltami@pucp.edu.pe
Abstract
The objective of this review was to identify the links between
Climate Change, Vulnerability, Social Conicts and Human Displacement
in the Andes. The dierent factors that inuence the vulnerability of
people and communities are analyzed, such as the diversity of the impacts of
climate change, the retreat of glaciers, the loss of biological diversity, health,
agricultural production and scenarios with the presence of water
scarcity. Adaptive behaviors are observed in the inhabitants of Andean
communities, but they are not sucient, because in many occasions
people are forced to migrate to other cities. Five ways of responding to climate
risks or hazards are suggested: 1) reduction and control of global warming,
2) adaptation to conditions resulting from climate change, 3) resistance,
4) mitigation, and 5) involuntary displacement. Finally, it concludes by
stating that there is an intricate link between global warming, climate change,
vulnerability and social conicts, and that migration is a product of climate change.
Key words: climate change; social conicts; migration.
Resumen
El objetivo de esta revisión fue de, identicar los vínculos entre el
Cambio Climático, Vulnerabilidad, Conictos Sociales y Desplazamiento
Humano en los Andes. Se analizan los diferentes factores que inuyen la
vulnerabilidad de las personas y comunidades, como la diversidad de los
impactos del cambio climático, el retroceso de los glaciares, la pérdida de
diversidad biológica, la salud, la producción agrícola y los escenarios con
presencia de escasez de agua. Se observan comportamientos adaptativos en
los pobladores de las comunidades andinas, pero no son sucientes, debido
a que en muchas ocasiones las personas se ven obligadas a migrar a otras
ciudades. Se sugieren 5 maneras de responder a los riesgos o peligros
Ambiente, Comportamiento y Sociedad. 2020, 3(1),1-7. eISSN 2709-8219X
DOI: https://doi.org/10.51343/racs.v3i2.417
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Ambiente, Comportamiento y Sociedad
(2020), 3, 1, 1-7
The Andean region, particularly Peru, have been ranked the third most
vulnerable region to climate change in the world (Trigoso 2008); moreover, in spite of
the economic growth of the last fteen years, more than one-third of the population
lives in poverty, enhancing its vulnerability to such diverse impacts of climate change as
glacier retreat, loss of biological diversity, health, agricultural production, and water
scarcity. At the present, 65 percent of social conicts are related to environmental
issues, according to various studies.
Over the last six decades, Peru as a tropical country has experienced
signicant changes in precipitation and temperature levels, leading to increased glacier
retreat and ooding (Foresight Report 2011). The increase of environmental risks and
hazards, while global, will have more local impact, particularly in the coastal desert and
Andean peasant communities (Blaikie and Cannon 2003).
In coastal and arid zones, 80 percent of fresh water comes from andean
glaciers, lakes, and rivers. During the last ten years on the coast, irrigated agriculture has
increased, since most of this production is for export. This production includes fruits,
owers, asparagus, and so on, demanding more water than livestock production. Lately,
there have been reports on water scarcity and consequent social conicts between large,
medium, and small producers. It is predicted that water will become even more scarce
in the next ten years, and conicts and involuntary migration to the jungle and large
cities will increase accordingly. Global warming is also aecting small water sources at
less than 5,000 meters above sea level. These springs are crucial for domestic animals,
as well as for human consumption since 90 percent of rural populations do not have
domestic drinking water connections.
It has been recorded that adaptative mechanisms as well as
resilience are some of the main responses of Andean rural populations to
climate change as it happens in other areas (Birkmann 2010). However, populations living
below the poverty line (less than U.S.$2 per day) are more vulnerable and therefore more
likely to migrate involuntarily to either the coast or the rainforest (Trigoso 2008).
The Andean region has lost between 30 to 40 percent of its glacier
since 1970 (Becker 2007, Altamirano 2013).The glacier regulates stream
ow and seasonal variations during the dry season from June to November.
climáticos, 1) la reducción y control del calentamiento global, 2)
Adaptación a las condiciones resultantes del cambio climático, 3) resistencia, 4)
Mitigación y 5) Desplazamiento involuntario. Finalmente, se concluye
armando que existe un vínculo intrincado entre el calentamiento global, el
cambio climático, la vulnerabilidad y los conictos sociales, del mismo modo
se precisa que las migraciones son producto del cambio climático.
Palabras clave: cambio climático; conictos sociales; migración.
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Figure 1
Research Site
My study in the central sierra Huaytapallana glacier (declared as Natural
Reserve by the peruvian Ministry of Environment) has demonstrated that 35
percent of the glacier has been lost in the last forty years. It also has been
reported by the UNDP study (PRAA, Adaptation to Climate Change) that in the coming
fty years all of the glacier will melt. Forty years ago in summer and winter the
mountain of Huaytapallana was completely covered by glacier ice. I personally
witnessed the beauty of the mountain when I became part of a British research
team in the area. Huaytapallana glacier (5677 meters above the sea level) provides
fresh water to a watershead call Shullcas where around 25,000 indigenous and peasant
population lives as well as to the city of Huancayo with 480000 inhabitants.
As with the reserve of Huaytapallana, there are others having the same social
conicts as a result of water scarcity and stress. In addition to glacier retreat, mining
companies located in more than 4,000 meters above sea level, where most glaciers are,
are contaminating the water with mercury that is widely used to separate gold and
other minerals from rocks and solid soil. This is the case of Huaytapallana reserve,
where at least three companies are exploiting minerals and the rest have concessions from
the central government to explore and later exploit. Of approximately 265 social
conicts, 65 percent are related to the environment, with mineral, gas, and oil e
xploration the most numerous.
1
Two years ago a conict between the native population and
police in the northern peruvian rain forest resulted in twenty-seven deaths—ve
natives and twenty-two police. Global warming not only aects sea-level rise, health,
1
Report of Defensoria del Pueblo, an independent advocate for the rights of people, similar to an
ombudsman.
biodiversity, and agriculture—resulting in more destructive hurricanes, tornados, and
rain—but also increases glacier retreat. This in turn aects the availability of water,
essential for human subsistence in tropical zones. It is predicted that in the next ten
years, glaciers less than 5,000 meters above sea level will disappear. Most of our
indigenous communities live between 3,000 and 4,500 meters above sea level. As
global warming is unstoppable, so is glacier retreat, according to projections made by
the National Authority of Water, Arnao Morales (2010), and the National Geographic
Society.
These studies predict that in approximately eighty years all
Peruvian glaciers will be melted. Consequently, water stress will become even more
acute and forced migration will be more common mainly for vulnerable rural poor
people. It has been said that in the year 2050, the economic cost of climate change
will reach 20 percent of the Peruvian GNP, since the government will have to invest in
adaptation mitigation and projects to prevent hazards and protect food security,
agriculture and prevent possible illnesses as predicted by the Banco Central de Reserva
del Peru in 2008. In sum, there are ve ways to respond to climate hazards both in the
Andes and in the amazon rain forest located to the eastern side of the andes.
(1)
Global warming reduction and control
. As it stands, this alternative is
almost a utopian dream since rich and emerging countries will not comply, as it may
harm their economic growth and competitiveness (see Altamirano 2013, chap. 3).
International agreements and summits with participation of the U.S., Canada, Japan,
Australia, and the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) have
consistently responded negatively to the request that tropical and poor countries
reduce carbon dioxide emissions. This situation emerged in december 2014 during the
climate summit UN Conference of Partners (COP 20) held in Lima Peru. However at the
end, all 194 attending countries reached some common agreements to be submited next
year in Paris when COP 21 will take place. As we know such summit will replace the
1995 Kioto Protocol.
(2)
Adaptation to conditions resulting from global warming
. Most poor and tropical
countries such as Peru are implementing or are about to implement this response.
However, it has proven to be expensive and requires international aid from wealthier
countries. African sub-Saharan countries are among the most aected and are the poorest
in the world.
(3)
Resilience
. The impacts of climate change for many inhabitants of poor
countries are another challenge; therefore, resilience is part of their everyday lives.
These situations create individual, family, and group resistance to adverse situations.
Resilience includes internal organization and hierarchy to support external hazards.
This historical capacity partially explains why these populations tend to remain in their
own communities.
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Figure 2
Natural Landscape
(4)
Mitigation
. This means the rational use of scarce local resources including
traditional practices known by the people even before climate change became evident.
Early warning and the utilization of social and cultural knowledge passed on by
generations through oral traditions, the use of social media, and the role of school in
fostering environmental awareness are signicant tools to enhance capacities at the
individual and societal levels.
(5)
Involuntary displacement
. This response, organized by aected populations,
can be divided into two types: (a) planned and (b) unplanned. Displacement should be
considered as an undesirable alternative, since populations by nature are reluctant to
abandon their properties, culture, and local identity formed over centuries and even
thousands of years. In the case of planned evacuation, this can be organized by the
local, regional, or national government and sometimes with international aid, either
governmental or nongovernmental.
In the case of unplanned displacement, as happens more often,
aected populations make their own decisions in the absence of external aid;
if the evacuation is organized by their own people, the challenges can be more
risky and might entail the use of nancial resources that are often scarce. If organized
by individuals or families, it can be even riskier and with even fewer available
resources. Involuntary displacement entails additional challenges, such as when,
where, and how to evacuate. In most cases, there are two likely destinations: (a) refugee
camps, and (b) cities or safer neighboring locales. These kinds of displacements entail
family separations, uproot cultures, and are unpredictable in their outcomes since the
Ambiente, Comportamiento y Sociedad
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displaced become so vulnerable and dependent upon the will of the people at these
destinations, whether local or international.
The eectiveness of the ve types of responses will depend on many other factors
beyond the dominion of the displaced, such as the level of organization,
international law governing the internally displaced and refugees, and
international dispositions and treaties. According to the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel
on Climate Change 2012), more than 50 million people are internally and
internationally displaced in the world. This number surpasses the nonclimate-driven
involuntary migrants in the world, who number about 40 million according to the
United Nations Fund for Population Activities—25 million internally displaced and 15
million refugees.
Conclusion
Finally, there is an intricate link between global warming, climate change,
vulnerability, and social conicts. Involuntary environmental migration is
becoming the most likely consequence of climate change. It seems likely that in the future
environmental human displacement will reshape the patterns of involuntary migration
mainly in tropical and poor countries. Social vulnerability also has been linked to
involuntary migration, as Anthony Oliver-Smith (2010) has concluded in several studies,
including the Callejon de Huaylas in the Peruvian northern sierra and later in the southern
Peruvian highlands. The great lesson of Hurricane Sandy in the U.S. northeast is to
anticipate how climate change also will aect wealthier countries in the coastal areas
where most of the population lives as a result of nonclimate- driven migration—in
response to better occupational opportunities and family ties.
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