Habitat for Humanity talks climate change, natural disasters in Costa Rica

Habitat for Humanity Costa Rica held a forum at the Radisson Hotel in San José on Monday entitled “Cities and Climate Change.” 

The forum focused on how communities should be involved after a natural disaster and constructive options for homes in high risk areas, including in Costa Rica.

According to Vice President of Habitat for Humanity Latin America and the Caribbean Torre Nelson, Habitat for Humanity Costa Rica developed the Tambor Project in Alajuela, which was able to provide permanent housing to 13 families affected by the Cinchona earthquake only eight months after the earthquake struck in 2009. He also pointed to the success of the reconstruction of Léogâne, Haiti after that country’s earthquake.

Since 1985 the UN has declared the first Monday in October as World Habitat Day. Experts at the press conference estimated that by 2050 about 200 million people will be displaced as a result of climate change.