In August 2021, more than 150 researchers and officials from 35 states gathered to identify research and capacity building priorities at the intersection of Climate, Environment and Health (CEH) in the Latin America and Caribbean region. The workshop was organized by the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (IAI), the United States Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) and the Belmont Forum (BF).
Among the main challenges to forming a community of practice around CEH are: 1) research is not always planned to be applicable to policy and decision making, 2) in academia research results are valued more than influencing policy, 3) environmental and climate change impacts seem to be far removed from the day-to-day activities of health professionals, 4) there is an absence of policy frameworks for the connection between climate change and health.
Opportunities identified included: 1) open access solutions to make information and tools available, 2) co-development of applicable information by diverse stakeholders, 3) sharing best practices in capacity building, 4) NGO support to engage with governments, 5) developing a roadmap to create a community of practice, 6) fostering citizen science, and 7) exploring transcontinental multilateral governance tools.
We share with you the executive report and synthesis of the results.
