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Due to its impact on human health and its capacity to cause damage, disasters are one of the global problems that most concern the international community. However, and in spite of the efforts made by many health systems, the reduction of vulnerabilities and the lack of strategies to avoid or minimize risks have not received enough attention yet. As Cuba is located in an area of permanent danger of disasters, its health sector has accumulated considerable experience in the management of risks and in the assurance of less risky future scenarios, with active participation of the community and a planned and organized process to address the impact of climate change. This paper summarizes some of these experiences and describes the dangers, vulnerabilities, and risks of disasters in Cuba, its Civil Defense System, and planning and organization in the health sector for disaster reduction, as well as the main effects and challenges of climate change in the health system. Lessons learned and good practices support the key role of human resources to reduce vulnerabilities; the greatest challenges are to avoid or minimize risks, to advance research, to train professionals for climate change, and to optimize the organization of health systems and services in the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transport climate change impacts have become a worldwide concern. Transport is responsible for 41% of CO2 emissions in Spain, and around 65% of that figure is due to road traffic. Tolled motorways are currently managed accor-ding to economic criteria: minimizing operational costs and maximizing revenues from tolls. Within this framework, this paper develops a new methodology for managing motorways based on a target of maximum energy efficiency. It includes technological and demand-driven policies, which are applied to two case studies. Various conclusions emerge from this study. The results clearly indicate that to achieve the best carbon footprint savings it is necessary to design sustainable strategies to manage each motorway section. That means to use the maximum of its capacity according to the total traffic flows of cars and heavy duty vehicles in the motorway road and also in the parallel roads. Another important finding is that substantial GHG reduction emissions could be achieved in the toll plazas with the application of Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) and Open Road Tolling (ORT) schemes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]