Life task:

What is it and what does the Life Task consist of?

The Task Life is a State Plan for confronting climate change, approved by the Council of Ministers on April 25, 2017, is inspired by the thought of the historical leader of the Cuban Revolution Fidel Castro Ruz, when at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, on June 12, 1992 he expressed: "...An important biological species is at risk of disappearing due to the rapid and progressive liquidation of its natural conditions of life: man...".

This State Plan is made up of 5 strategic actions and 11 tasks. It is an integral proposal, which presents an initial identification of priority zones and places, their effects and the actions to be undertaken, which can be enriched during its development and implementation.

It has as background the research on climate change initiated by the Cuban Academy of Sciences in 1991 and intensified in November 2004, after an exhaustive analysis and debate on the negative impacts caused by hurricanes Charley and Ivan in the western part of the country. Since then, territorial hazard, vulnerability and risk studies for disaster reduction were initiated, with the use of the country's scientific-technological potential.

The life task has 5 strategic actions:

Do not allow new housing constructions in threatened coastal settlements that are predicted to disappear due to permanent flooding and the most vulnerable ones. Reduce population density in coastal low-lying areas.
Develop construction designs in infrastructure adapted to coastal flooding for low-lying areas.
Adapt agricultural and livestock activities, particularly those with the greatest impact on the country's food security, to changes in land use as a result of sea level rise and drought.
Reduce the areas of crops near the coasts or affected by saline intrusion. Diversify crops, improve soil conditions, introduce and develop varieties resistant to the new temperature scenario.
Plan the urban reorganization of threatened settlements and infrastructures in accordance with the country's economic conditions. Start with lower-cost measures, such as induced natural solutions (beach recovery, reforestation).

From these strategic actions are derived the 11 fundamental tasks for the Confrontation of Climate Change:

Task 1: Identify and undertake actions and projects for adaptation to climate change, comprehensive and progressive, necessary to reduce existing vulnerability in the 15 areas identified as prioritized; considering in the order of action the threatened population, their physical and food security and tourism development.

Task 2: To implement the necessary legal norms to support the execution of the State Plan; as well as to ensure their strict compliance, with particular attention to measures aimed at reducing the vulnerability of the built heritage, prioritizing threatened coastal settlements.

Task 3: To conserve, maintain and recover integrally the sandy beaches of the Cuban archipelago, prioritizing those urbanized for tourist use and reducing the structural vulnerability of the built heritage.

Task 4: Ensure the availability and efficient use of water as part of the fight against drought, based on the application of technologies for saving water and meeting local demands. To increase the hydraulic infrastructure and its maintenance, as well as the introduction of actions for the measurement of water efficiency and productivity.

Task 5: Direct reforestation towards the maximum protection of soil and water in quantity and quality, as well as the recovery of the most affected mangroves. Prioritize the reservoirs, canals and hydro-regulating strips of the tributary basins of the main bays and the coasts of the insular platform.

Task 6: Stop deterioration, rehabilitate and conserve coral reefs throughout the archipelago, with priority to the ridges that border the insular platform and protect urbanized beaches for tourist use. Avoid overfishing of fish that favor corals.

Task 7: Maintain and introduce the scientific results of the Macroproject on Hazards and Vulnerability of the Coastal Zone (2050-2100) and the Hazard, Vulnerability and Risk Studies in the disaster reduction cycle into territorial and urban planning. Use this information as early warning for decision making by OACE, OSDE, EN, CAP and CAM.

Task 8: Implement and monitor climate change adaptation and mitigation measures derived from sectoral policies in programs, plans and projects related to food security, renewable energy, energy efficiency, territorial and urban planning, fisheries, agriculture, health, tourism, construction, transportation, industry and integrated forest management.

Task 9: Strengthen monitoring, surveillance and early warning systems to systematically evaluate the state and quality of the coastal zone, water, drought, forest, human, animal and plant health.

Task 10: Prioritize measures and actions to raise the perception of risk and increase the level of knowledge and the degree of participation of the entire population in addressing climate change and a culture that promotes water conservation.

Task 11: Manage and use available international financial resources, both from global and regional climate funds, as well as bilateral sources, to implement the investments, projects and actions derived from each of the Tasks of this State Plan.