VZCZCXYZ0001
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHLP #0695/01 0721905
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 131905Z MAR 07
FM AMEMBASSY LA PAZ
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2811
INFO RUEHAC/AMEMBASSY ASUNCION 6626
RUEHBO/AMEMBASSY BOGOTA 3946
RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA 7834
RUEHBU/AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES 5084
RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS 2314
RUEHPE/AMEMBASSY LIMA 2423
RUEHMD/AMEMBASSY MADRID 3375
RUEHMN/AMEMBASSY MONTEVIDEO 4479
RUEHQT/AMEMBASSY QUITO 4954
RUEHSJ/AMEMBASSY SAN JOSE 1619
RUEHSG/AMEMBASSY SANTIAGO 9542
RUEHUB/USINT HAVANA 0209
RHMFIUU/HQ USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL
RUMIAAA/USCINCSO MIAMI FL
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS LA PAZ 000695 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR WHA/AND LPETRONI 
BRASILIA FOR JSTORY 
SAN JOSE FOR BLINK 
USAID/LAC FOR JBISSON 
USAID/EGAT FOR DMULLER AND CELRON 
USAID/BOGOTA FOR BBAYLE 
COMMERCE FOR JANGLIN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SENV ECON PGOV BL
SUBJECT: BOLIVIA'S CLIMATE CHANGE ACTION PLAN: MITIGATE AND 
ADAPT 
 
REF: LA PAZ 661 
 
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SUMMARY 
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¶1. (U) Bolivian efforts to address the potential impact of 
climate change (reftel) include both mitigation and 
adaptation strategies.  While much of the country's five-year 
action plan has yet to be implemented, GOB officials accept 
evidence of climate change and appear committed to taking 
initial steps to prepare for a range of consequences.  End 
summary. 
 
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BACKGROUND 
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¶2. (U) Bolivia created its National Climate Change Program in 
1995, with support from international and domestic experts. 
Its coordinator, Oscar Paz, has directed the program since 
its initiation, today overseeing an organization whose 25 
Bolivian staff are charged not only with meeting Bolivia's 
commitments under the UN Framework Convention on Climate 
Change, but also with devising a long-term national climate 
change strategy. 
 
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THE ACTION PLAN: MITIGATE AND ADAPT 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶3. (U) Bolivian efforts to address the potential impact of 
climate change (reftel) include both mitigation and 
adaptation strategies.  According to Paz, who spoke to 
Econoff February 28, both are key components of a 
comprehensive five-year action plan that seeks to reduce 
Bolivia's vulnerability to the consequences of climate 
change.  The GOB seeks not only to mitigate the impact of 
climate change by encouraging reductions in greenhouse gas 
emissions and placing increased emphasis on alternative 
energy sources, but also to adapt to the effects of climate 
change by encouraging behavioral and lifestyle modifications. 
 
¶4. (U) Paz noted that vulnerability to climate change will 
vary by community, with populations' ability to cope shifting 
with geographic location, environmental conditions, 
population density, poverty levels, income distribution, food 
production capabilities, and access to health care.  Some 
communities, Paz argued, will be more susceptible than others 
to the most immediate effects of climate change: more 
frequent droughts, harsher rainy seasons, and increasingly 
scarce and uncertain water supplies, which will affect 
populations' economic livelihoods and food supplies.  Paz 
hopes to help communities adapt to already evident seasonal 
change by altering planting and harvesting timetables, not 
only on the altiplano of the west, but also in the lowlands 
of the east, where increasingly unpredictable weather, higher 
than normal temperatures, and new diseases have begun to 
affect crop yields. 
 
¶5. (U) While much of Bolivia's action plan has yet to be 
implemented, GOB officials accept scientific and anecdotal 
evidence of climate change and appear committed to taking 
initial steps to prepare for a range of consequences. 
According to Paz, officials recognize that climate change 
poses a significant threat to long-term economic growth and 
 
understand that they cannot make development plans without 
considering the potential impact of climate change.  GOB 
officials may push for projects with more immediate, bigger 
results, Paz said, but most are generally receptive to policy 
recommendations; most, for example, support the pursuit of a 
variety of mitigation projects and advocate the preparation 
of a more detailed national adaptation plan. 
 
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COMMENT 
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¶6. (SBU) Mitigation and adaptation ostensibly carry equal 
weight in Bolivia's action plan, but Paz and his counterparts 
appear more concerned with adaptation; their preference may 
indicate a belief that climate change is an externality 
largely beyond Bolivia's control.  Paz and his staff seem to 
have made a good start, but persistent shortages of financial 
and technical resources may hamper their efforts.  End 
comment. 
GOLDBERG