CRM in Brazil: Strengthening synergies and alignment of DRR and climate action from national to local levels

UNDRR delivers technical assistance to Brazil on CRM

In Brazil, UNDRR cooperates with national and sub-national authorities to strengthen coherence, across different dimensions, between disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation at different governance levels. The engagement advanced the localization of comprehensive risk management (CRM) by supporting vertical alignment from federal frameworks to state-level coordination in the State of Pará and operational application at the local level in the Municipality of Belém, where COP30 was hosted.

Activities

UNDRR’s engagement in Brazil focuses on strengthening coherence between disaster risk reduction (DRR) and climate change adaptation (CCA) through a CRM approach that connects national, state and municipal levels. As Brazil hosted COP30, UNDRR provided technical assistance and convened multi-stakeholder dialogues to strengthen risk governance, improve institutional coordination and promote risk-informed public policy in the State of Pará and the Municipality of Belém. 

By analyzing policy coherence at national, sub-national and local levels, UNDRR provided tailored recommendations to enhance alignment and coherence between national DRR and CCA plans, supporting more integrated, risk-informed policy frameworks and strengthening countries’ capacity to address climate and disaster risks in a coordinated manner. In Belém, this included aligning the Program AdaptaCities (the National initiative for subnational adaptation), the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction Plan (PMRR) and the Climate Action Plan (PLAC) by integrating historical disaster data with forward-looking climate projections, incorporating emerging risks such as urban heat islands, and institutionalising the use of risk information in territorial planning and budget instruments. UNDRR also supported the use of the new municipal legal framework as an integrating governance mechanism between environmental and civil protection authorities.

In 2025, UNDRR conducted a CRM policy landscape analysis for Pará State, identifying governance fragmentation and gaps in the alignment of DRR and CCA instruments, and defining priority entry points for improved vertical articulation. Building on this analysis, UNDRR supported Belém in translating national and State-level priorities into locally applicable planning measures, strengthening the integration of municipal disaster risk governance, climate change adaptation and territorial planning. This process advanced a more integrated, evidence-based and institutionally coherent approach to resilience grounded in the CRM framework. As part of the preparations for COP30, these engagements fostered cross-sector collaboration in the State of Pará, reinforcing the role of inclusive dialogue and climate-resilient public policy as foundations for sustainable development. The work carried out in Belém builds on and localises a multi-year, multi-level engagement led by UNDRR to strengthen coherence between disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation across federal, state, and municipal levels in Brazil.

List of activities:

• Supported a national-level accompaniment process linked to the development of Brazil’s National Climate Adaptation Plan in 2024, contributing to the incorporation of disaster risk reduction principles into national adaptation planning
• Conducted policy analysis at national, sub-national (State of Pará) and local level (Municipality of Belém) in 2025
• 2025 - conducted a CRM policy landscape analysis for the State of Pará, identifying key governance, coordination and policy coherence gaps affecting the integration of disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation, and outlining priority entry points to strengthen risk-informed action at state and municipal levels.
• 2024 Sub-national workshop in the state of Pará in preparation for COP30  to strengthen climate and disaster risk governance, enhance inter-institutional coordination across institutions
• Local level validation workshop in Belém in February 2026 to discuss the policy analysis and strengthen coherence at the local level.

Outcomes

• Integration of DRR principles into national adaptation planning through Brazil’s updated National Climate Adaptation Plan , which includes a dedicated sectoral plan on disaster risk reduction and management. This represents a significant step towards institutionalising coherence between adaptation and risk reduction, strengthening cross-sector implementation and facilitating alignment between planning, budgeting and financing instruments at federal and 
  subnational levels. 
• Increased clarity on governance fragmentation between DRR and CCA agendas, highlighting the need to rationalize institutional arrangements, avoid parallel structures, besides strengthening coordinated decision-making. 
• A strengthened understanding of the role of risk data in public decision-making, including the need to move towards integrated, georeferenced and publicly accessible risk information systems, and to progressively adopt probabilistic 
  risk assessment methodologies that combine historical data with climate change scenarios. 
• A consolidated technical diagnosis of climate and disaster risk governance, policies and instruments, identifying structural gaps between the Local Climate Adaptation Plan (PLAC) and the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction Plan (PMRR), particularly regarding the use of historical versus prospective risk information. 
• A set of concrete and prioritized recommendations to inform the new municipal legal framework, linking climate adaptation, disaster risk reduction, urban planning and budgetary instruments. Institutional validation of findings and priorities through a multi-stakeholder technical workshop, reinforcing ownership, alignment across sectors and readiness for implementation in the post-COP30 context.