Doctoral Researcher

María-José Vásquez is researching accountability on climate change adaptation. The implementation of climate change adaptation projects is taking place all around the world. Nevertheless, it does not necessarily translate into an increment on adaptative capacity and resilience or reduction of vulnerability. The doctoral research intends to identify how are German climate change adaptation projects addressing adaptation progress in Central and South America, and how can assessment of adaptation ensure vulnerability reduction effectiveness. The research also aims to analyze how can Germany strengthen M&E adaptation systems to assess adaptation interventions’ effectiveness in Central America.

María-José has specialized in climate change adaptation policies and its implementation for the past 10 years. She works as CVF Program Officer in the Global Center on Adaptation. She used to work as Facilitator for the NDC Partnership and as advisor on climate change to the Executive Presidency of the Municipal Development in Costa Rica. She has been a National Delegate of Costa Rica to the UNFCCC since 2014 and was part of the support team of the Presidency of the CVF and the Marshall Islands Presidency for the first Virtual Climate Summit worldwide. She has a joint European master’s degree in Environmental Studies, cities and sustainability.

Research Interests

  • Climate change adaptation
  • Climate Justice
  • Sustainable cities

Selected Publications

Vásquez, M. J. (2014) “Educación para el desarrollo sostenible (EDS) – un posicionamiento de jóvenes progresistas en América Central -” Friedrich Ebert Stiftung. Available at: http://library.fes.de/pdf-files/bueros/fesamcentral/11121.pdf

Vásquez, M. J. (2019) “Desafíos para la resiliencia climática a nivel local en Costa Rica,” Ambientico, (ISSN 1409-214X), pp. 34–39. Available at: http://www.ambientico.una.ac.cr/pdfs/art/ambientico/270_34-39.pdf