Action plans for urban adaptation and vulnerability analysis for Medellín: A proposal to reduce the effects of climate change from a territorial planning approach

Climate change is a phenomenon with great implications on the cities throughout the region. Elements such as adaptation and mitigation should be included in territorial planning to minimize its effects. The vulnerability analysis is a tool that allows the correct application of these elements, because it assesses the exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity of the cities, and its results would allow for a more accurate decision-making in territorial planning and readiness to face the phenomenon. In the case of Medellín (Colombia) the discussion of the role of climate change in local territorial planning is very precarious and this was corroborated by a vulnerability analysis, whose results revealed a medium vulnerability, with the possibility of becoming a high vulnerability in the coming years if the climate change factor remains excluded from the discussion. The revision of the Territorial Planning Plan (POT, for its initials in Spanish) incorporated this phenomenon for the first time in 2013 and highlighted the problems and the required commitments in mitigation and adaptation, which enable reducing the degree of exposure and vulnerability to extreme climate events; however, there is still a lack of commitment, policies and concrete programs to make this possible.