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El Salvador - Climate

Central America's smallest country, El Salvador, is being increasingly battered by the effects of climate change — drought, floods and violent storms. El Salvador has a high exposure to natural hazards, such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, and is highly vulnerable to climate change impacts, including frequent occurrences of floods, droughts, and tropical storms. Climate change, poor land use practices, contamination, and overexploitation have contributed to water insecurity.

Agriculture is a primary transmission pathway from the effects of climate change upon migration. One 2023 study found found 70.7% more emigration to the US when local growing seasons in Central America were recently drier than the historical average since 1901. Climate change has altered weather patterns making rainfall and temperature trends unpredictable. Climate change also intersects with and possibly accentuates other weather phenomena such as El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) cycles. ENSO cycles are known to reduce certain crop yields in some regions. El Niño generally brings drier than average weather to the region during key growing months, impacts that are likely to become more severe as global temperatures rise.

Crops in San Miguel, El Salvador, withered without rain during 2016, and residents there reported to relief agencies that conditions were too dry even for alternative varietals35. San Miguel farmers eventually relied exclusively on emergency food supplies. Emigration rates in El Salvador exhibited a consistent increase through 2016, but subsequent decline afterward. The adverse effects of climate change beyond water shortages contribute to crop failures. Forecasts have shown reductions in the region's suitability for coffee, a crop that provides the largest share of rural employment. For example, rising temperatures have contributed to plant diseases like “coffee rust” and aflatoxin.

The GOES does not have a climate strategy aligned with the UN System of Environmental-Economic Accounting. However, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is providing technical assistance to MARN and the Ministry of Finance (MH) in reinforcing specific goals and streamlining compliance with NDCs. The implementation of national climate goals requires financing mechanisms and instruments for investments. According to UNDP, El Salvador is working on strengthening its institutional system to channel climate resources with the creation of the Climate Financing Roundtable and the design of the National Climate Financing Strategy.

The Water Resources Law took effect in July 2022. The law prohibits the privatization of water resources and establishes access to water and sanitation as a human right, as well as prioritizes water usage towards human consumption. The law created an all-public governing body the Salvadoran Water Authority (ASA) charged with drafting policies and guidelines for water extraction and wastewater discharge. The ASA issues water permits for industrial purposes and other GOES ministries issue permits relevant to their sectors. ASA is the sole issuer of effluent discharge permits. The GOES has yet to publish implementing regulations. The private sector has expressed concerns about legal uncertainty, as the law does not differentiate existing water permits from new ones and does not clearly define regulatory entity by sector.

In November 2022, ASA issued the General Guidelines for Wastewater Discharge. The guidelines establish discharge limits and conditions for industrial, agro-industrial, recreational, and other sources. The guidelines are mandatory for public or private entities that indirectly or directly discharge into receiving waters.

The Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (MARN) released for public consultation the National Environmental Policy on February 7, 2022. The policy focuses on climate change management and adaptation, biodiversity mainstreaming in the economy, restoration and conservation of water resources, and environmental zoning. To enable implementation, three cross-cutting issues are highlighted in the policy (education and awareness-raising, research and scientific innovation, and governance) as action required by the GOES. MARN published the final version of the policy in September 2022.

El Salvador presented the update of its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) to the United Nations Framework Convention on the Climate Change (UNFCCC) on January 6, 2022. The updated NDCs include actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) in the energy sector; a cumulative emissions reduction target, and activities to increase carbon sinks and reservoirs in the agricultural landscape of the agriculture, forestry, and land-use change sector if large-scale financing is obtained from international and national sources with the participation of the private sector. The Minister of Environment and Natural Resources participated in the 27 United Nations Conference on Climate Change 2022 (COP 27), where he called on countries with the highest greenhouse gas emissions to change their practices for the benefit of all.

The Environmental Law creates the National Incentives and Disincentives Program and establishes parameters for its design. The program is prepared by MARN in conjunction with the Ministries for Finance and Economy. In 2021, MARN finalized drafting the program that focuses on restoration of ecosystems and productive landscapes and includes tools such as reputational incentives (National Price for the Environment), financial incentives (payments for ecosystem services and lines of credit with state-owned banks to undertake restoration actions in productive landscapes), non-financial incentives (technical assistance), and market incentives (eco-labels and certifications).

Protected areas, use of nature-based solutions, sustainable forest management, and other ecosystem management plans are regulated in the Natural Protected Areas Law and Wildlife Conservation Law. El Salvador does not have policies to address deforestation resulting from the production of commodities or supply chains.

The Public Procurement Law introduces sustainable acquisitions by ensuring that environmental performance and sustainability factors are included to the extent possible in purchases. The law mandates that preference must be given for products made of recycled content, energy and water efficient goods, and reusable, refillable, more durable, or repairable articles.