Ecuador is a middle-income country located in northwestern South America. The climate varies significantly across its geographic regions, supporting high levels of biodiversity. Ecuador has abundant agricultural, oil, mineral, and hydropower resources; agriculture accounts for 32 percent of employment, while about 77 percent of energy production comes from hydropower. However, poverty remains at about 27 percent and has shown little decline in the last few years (World Bank Group, 2024). 

Ecuador is highly vulnerable to natural hazards, including floods, landslides, droughts, and earthquakes. El Niño and La Niña phenomena – featuring higher-than-average and cooler-than-average sea temperatures respectively -are particularly harmful as they affect rainfall patterns, thus increasing flood and drought risk. Climate projections suggest rising mean temperatures, triggering more extreme weather events such as intense precipitation, which increases the prevalence of floods and landslides. An estimated 20 percent of Ecuador’s population is exposed to flood inundation of 15 centimeters or more  (World Bank Group, 2024).  

Climate change impacts threaten income, infrastructure, and livelihoods. Natural disasters are expected to worsen, exacerbating hazards and prolonging water shortages that affect hydroelectric power, particularly impacting the poor in the Amazon and coastal regions. Such shortages have already compromised hydroelectric power generation, as evidenced by the energy crisis in 2023 and April 2024. Limited adaptation options are likely to raise the risk of future energy crises and further jeopardize agricultural activities and biodiversity (World Bank Group, 2024).