Assessment of Regional Variations in Disaster Risk Management Strategies Across the Amazon River Basin

The Amazon Basin faces escalating risks from climate change, including floods, droughts, and fire hazards, which threaten communities, ecosystems, and regional development. Due to the basin’s transboundary hydrological and ecological systems, climate-related hazards often generate cascading impacts across national borders, affecting multiple countries simultaneously.

Our assessment aims to highlight areas where alignment, strengthening, or improved implementation strategies could enhance the capacity of Amazonian countries to reduce disaster risk. To achieve this, the report assesses regional variations in disaster risk reduction (DRR) strategies implemented through disaster risk management (DRM) systems across Amazonian states. These strategies aim to strengthen resilience and address the intensifying hazards and impacts of climate change.

The study is based on qualitative research and a multi-source review of academic literature, government documents, and reports produced by intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations in English, Spanish, and Portuguese. It assesses national policies and institutional arrangements across the eight sovereign Amazon Basin countries while also examining regional cooperation initiatives promoted through organizations such as the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO), the Organization of American States (OAS), the Andean Community (CAN), and MERCOSUR. The analysis uses the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction as the conceptual lens to assess the design and implementation of disaster risk governance (DRG) arrangements across Amazonian countries.

The assessment categorizes national strategies into thematic areas, including flood management, drought resilience, fire risk mitigation, and water resource governance, enabling a comprehensive examination of policy responses to climate-related hazards. It also reflects on how cross-border water conflicts and cooperation in the Amazon Basin present both challenges and opportunities for integrated disaster risk governance. The analysis indicates gradual strengthening of disaster risk governance across the Amazon Basin, although institutional capacity remains uneven. Across the countries reviewed, several have established disaster risk management frameworks and civil protection systems; however, differences in institutional capacity and coordination create uneven levels of preparedness across the region. Risk knowledge systems are expanding but remain fragmented across national boundaries. Investments in hydrometeorological monitoring and geographic information systems have improved risk knowledge, yet most data platforms remain nationally organized and lack interoperability for monitoring transboundary hazards.

Environmental governance plays a critical role in shaping disaster risk. Policies related to forests, land use, and water resources directly influence exposure and vulnerability to floods, droughts, and ecosystem degradation across the basin.

Disaster risk financing still prioritizes recovery over prevention. Although several countries have developed contingency funds and insurance schemes, investments in preventive resilience measures remain limited.

Stronger regional cooperation and inclusive governance will be essential for improving resilience. Enhancing data sharing, strengthening cross-border coordination, and incorporating Indigenous knowledge systems into governance processes could significantly strengthen disaster risk reduction across the Amazon Basin.

Overall, we emphasize that adopting a more holistic approach—one that addresses critical gaps in understanding and managing climate risks at both regional and basin scales—can significantly strengthen resilience across the Amazon Basin. The policy relevance of these findings is reinforced by recent international developments, particularly the hosting of COP30 in Belém, Brazil - the first United Nations climate conference to take place within the Amazon Basin. The outcomes of COP30 (2025) have highlighted the importance of strengthening links between climate adaptation and disaster risk reduction, expanding climate finance, and improving regional monitoring systems for forests and climate risks. These developments create an important opportunity to advance more coordinated approaches to disaster risk governance in the Amazon Basin.