Content
- STeP fellows explore international climate negotiations
- Free training on climate change, migration, and health in Latin America and the Caribbean
- IPCC decides on new work plan at 60th plenary session
- ACTO launches groundbreaking Rapid Assessment of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services
- Progress of the seed fund teams Climate, Environment, and Health for the Americas
- ECOSOC Special Meeting Automation and digitization and their impact on women and young people
IAI Newsletter 1 /24
STeP fellows explore international climate negotiations
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In an educational experience, fellows from the Science, Technology, and Policy Fellowship Program (STeP) at the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research explored the complexities of international climate negotiations in sessions led by Dr. Carol Franco, a member of the IAI’s **** Science-Policy Advisory Committee (SPAC) ****. The sessions addressed the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)” and conflict resolution and consensus building.
Within the framework of the STeP professional development program, fellows had a “behind-the-scenes look,” where Dr. Franco, with her experience as a member of the Dominican Republic’s delegation since 2012, shared practical examples. These highlighted the essential balance between technical knowledge and negotiation skills. After grasping the intricate mechanisms and strategies for successful negotiations, one of the fellows desired to find more efficient and alternative methods for more ambitious agreements on climate change.
Dr. Franco explained that the only way to make significant changes would be to modify the articles of the convention (UNFCCC), thereby opening the possibility for various transformations. Although she understood the perspective of seeking efficiency, she warned about the risk of ending up without a convention or with a version detrimental to developing countries, emphasizing the importance of supporting these nations most affected by climate change.
With a particular focus on the developing countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, fellows participated in discussions on the regional agenda for the Conference of the Parties (CoP28) in the United Arab Emirates. As part of the preparation, they engaged in a negotiation simulation on agriculture and food security, addressing one of the region’s most pressing issues.
During the simulation, fellows negotiated the implementation and operationalization of climate action in agriculture, addressing the global relevance of these issues. With projections indicating that 2030 climate change could push 132 million people into extreme poverty in developing countries, they recognized the vulnerability of key groups and the critical importance of increasing funding and technology transfer for the agricultural sector.
While there is consensus on the importance of climate issues, fellows recognize that negotiation skills are crucial to turning discussions into concrete actions.
Dr. Franco concluded by reminding fellows that much can be achieved, encouraging them to work with communities, in the field, and engage in dialogue with people at the local and national levels.
If you would like to learn more about the STeP program, visit ***** https://iai.int/en/step *****
IAI Newsletter 1 /24
Free training on climate change, migration, and health in Latin America and the Caribbean
Over the course of 2024, the region will have the opportunity for free training through five webinars organized by a network of international institutions. The objective is to provide specific knowledge and case studies on the intersection between climate change, migration, and health in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC).
The webinar series “Climate Change, Migration and Health in Latin America and the Caribbean” is scheduled from 5 March 2024 to 12 November 2024. The sessions will be held every two months in Spanish and English, with interpretation.
The webinars have been organized by institutions committed to research and health promotion in Latin America and the Caribbean:
- Center for Global Intercultural Health, ICIM, Universidad del Desarrollo – Chile.
- Global Consortium on Climate and Health Education, Columbia University, USA.
- Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (IAI)
- Latin America Node of Lancet Migration
- Department of Health and Migration, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland.
- Chilean Network for Research on Health and Migration, RECHISAM
The webinars will focus on current knowledge of scientific evidence and experiences in LAC, as well as on the efforts deployed in the various countries and communities in different countries of the region.
We highlight the valuable participation of Carol Zavaleta, based at the Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia (Lima, Peru), and Jeremy Pittman, Associate Professor at the University of Waterloo and Principal Investigator of the IAI Small Grants Program.
Session 1:
Climate Forces on the Health and Well-Being of Children on the Move in LAC / Date: Tuesday, 5 March 2024
Session 2:
How Climate Change is Affecting Women’s Health in LAC / Date: Tuesday, 7 May 2024
Session 3:
Droughts, heat, and extreme weather: climatic forces on food insecurity in LAC / Date: Tuesday, 2 July 2024
Session 4:
Populations on the move: how climate change affects migrants in transitory camps in LAC / Date: Tuesday, 3 September 2024
Session 5:
The health of populations remaining in countries affected by climate change in LAC / Date: Tuesday, 12 November 2024
Register here:
IAI Newsletter 1 /24
IPCC decides on new work plan at 60th plenary session
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In the city of Istanbul, Turkey, the Member States of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) met during the 60th Plenary Session to discuss and define the way forward for the seventh climate assessment cycle. This cycle, which had begun with the election of the new IPCC Bureaus and Task Force at the end of July 2023, was addressed at this meeting, which ran from January 16 to 19 of this year.
During those four days, delegates from the 195 member governments discussed and decided on the work program, including the number and scope of scientific reports that the IPCC would deliver in this cycle. Notably, at the 43rd Session in April 2016, it was agreed that a special report on climate change and cities would be produced in this cycle, and at the 49th Session in May 2019, it was decided that the seventh cycle would deliver a methodological report on short-lived climate agents.
In the framework of the 60th Plenary Session, Edwin Castellanos, representative of Guatemala and Director of Science at the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (IAI), emphasized three crucial points during his intervention at the event. First, he highlighted that the full reports generated by the IPCC were written exclusively in English; this practice, according to Castellanos, resulted in crucial information not effectively reaching decision-makers in Latin American countries, depriving them of essential data to address the climate crisis.
Second, Castellanos highlighted the limitation of the IPCC reports in relying on published literature. This approach, while valid in more developed scientific contexts, left less scientifically developed but highly vulnerable countries, such as Central America, underrepresented in the reports. Castellanos argued that these countries needed more information to make informed and effective decisions in the fight against climate change.
Finally, the third point highlighted by Castellanos was the need to include indigenous peoples more formally in the reporting process. He proposed the preparation of a special report focused on the knowledge of indigenous and aboriginal peoples, recognizing the importance of their perspectives and experiences in the formulation of adaptation and mitigation strategies.
During the opening ceremony, IPCC member governments and observer organizations were addressed by IPCC Chairman Jim Skea; Turkey’s Minister of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change, Mehmet Özhaseki; Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme, Inger Andersen; Secretary General of the World Meteorological Organization, Celeste Saulo; and Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Simon Stiell.
The IPCC, a UN body to assess the science related to climate change, was established in 1988 to provide political leaders with regular scientific assessments of climate change, its implications, and risks. With 195 member states, the IPCC seeks to provide scientific information for climate policy development.
The IPCC’s most recent report, the Sixth Assessment Report, was completed in March 2023 and provides key scientific information for international climate change negotiations.
For more information on the IPCC’s work and previous reports, visit www.ipcc.ch.
IAI Newsletter 1 /24
ACTO launches groundbreaking Rapid Assessment of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services
In a joint effort that brought together more than 100 specialists and experts from Amazonian countries, the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO) is pleased to announce the publication of the “Rapid Assessment of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services in the Amazon Basin/Region.” This report represents a crucial step in understanding the status and trends of biodiversity and ecosystem services in the Amazon Region, addressing biological, social, cultural, economic, and political dimensions.
At the instruction of Member Countries, including Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Suriname, and Venezuela, ACTO has led the generation and application of the latest scientific knowledge to strengthen public management of Amazonian territories. The Rapid Assessment is a milestone, being the first subregional assessment in the world prepared under the conceptual framework and methodology of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES).
The rigorousness of this process stands out for its basis in technical-scientific information and other available knowledge systems, as well as for its transparent development with continuous internal and external reviews. The Assessment promotes integration with similar processes, encompassing integral approaches that consider biophysical, economic, social and cultural perspectives. In addition, the legal framework of ACTO Member Countries relevant to biodiversity and ecosystem services has been taken into account, with author selection criteria that maintain multidisciplinarity, gender equity, geographic balance, independence and voluntary work, among others.
The main objective of the Rapid Assessment is to generate technical-scientific synthesis reports that strengthen the interface between science, policy, and society. These reports are presented in the Technical Document, composed of six chapters, and in the Summary for Decision Makers. Both documents consolidate themselves as crucial tools to substantiate the growing importance of the Amazon Region at the global level.
Furthermore, it is anticipated that the Assessment will be a valuable working tool for the future Intergovernmental Technical-Scientific Panel for the Amazon, whose creation is foreseen in the decision adopted by the Presidents of the Amazonian Countries during the IV Summit of Presidents of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty and the XIV Meeting of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of ACTO Member Countries.
The IAI Executive Directorate extends an invitation to all to explore, use and disseminate the “Rapid Assessment of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services of the Amazon Basin/Region”, available (in Spanish) at https://otca.org/project/evaluacion-rapida-de-diversidad-biologica-y-servicios-ecosistemicos-de-la-cuenca-region-amazonica/.
IAI Newsletter 1 /24
Advances of Climate, Environment, and Health for the Americas seed grant teams
The nine projects that received seed grand through the “Climate and Environmental Response for Health in the Americas” initiative of the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (IAI) are progressively advancing with their research. Based in different IAI member countries, the teams aim at seeing the results of their transdisciplinary studies translate into effective public policies.
The challenge of these researchers is to contribute to a more resilient and sustainable future at the climate, environment and health nexus, using a transdisciplinary approach.
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The “Transdisciplinary project for the design of an early and comprehensive response to heat waves for elderly people in the City of Buenos Aires” seeks to create a pilot early response system. Under the leadership of the principal investigator (PI), Ana Torlaschi, the team has tested data collection tools (surveys and focus groups), conducted educational activities, and developed different informational tactics.
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The “Climate Change, Health and Agroecology” project, led by PI Soledad Nión Celio, has created a working group with the Women’s Collective of the Agroecological Network of Uruguay. The team is creating a joint conceptual framework to be used in workshops and carrying out joint planning work through the exchange of interdisciplinary knowledge.
While the teams continue to collect and analyze data, the researchers have been preparing and publishing texts for the wider public, with the aim of informing public opinion. Policy changes should favor communities and human groups vulnerable to various factors identified in the studies.
IAI Newsletter 1 /24
ECOSOC Special Meeting Automation and digitization and their impact on women and young people
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In an ever-changing environment where technology is becoming increasingly important, the challenge of ensuring a sustainable and inclusive future that leaves no one behind was the focus of discussions during the Special Meeting of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), held on January 23-24, 2024 at ECLAC’S headquarters in Santiago, Chile. Under the theme “The Future of Work: Towards a Global, Productive, Inclusive and Sustainable Society,” participants, including government representatives, international organizations, and academics, shared their views on technology and current challenges.
This meeting served as a platform for exchanging ideas and generating policy recommendations, in line with the spirit of the General Assembly’s “Political Declaration of the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development.” Concerns revolved around future pathways in the face of a rapid and unprecedented labor market transformation driven by technological advances, new production models, and demographic changes, which shape the current scenario.
Although these global trends have benefited specific sectors, they have also had a negative impact on the most vulnerable. A clear example is automation and digitalization, which present risks such as unemployment, migration, aging of the economically active population, and the growing need for care jobs.
The panelists stressed that, although the technological revolution brings expectations and uncertainties about the future of work, it is crucial to ensure the implementation of decent work, integrating it with education and social protection. Jesús Etcheverry, from the Chilean Ministry of Science, commented on the significant technological impact and the marked digital divide, especially in terms of access and digital skills between women and men and among populations with low levels of digitalization, such as rural or disadvantaged populations, thus introducing a gender perspective into the discussion.
Participants highlighted the gender gap, stressing the need in Latin America for women to move towards education and training in emerging technologies by promoting careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics and greater female labor formality through specific policies. UN Women highlighted the importance of private sector participation in reducing gender inequality.
Finally, we cannot discuss the future without focusing on youth, given that it belongs to them. There are significant challenges, such as the high rate of youth unemployment, higher than that of adults, as Felipe Paullier, Assistant Secretary-General for Youth Affairs of the United Nations, mentioned. Investing in young people to equip them with adaptive skills for future employment is crucial, which requires a transformation and adaptation of the education system. Another emerging challenge is the mental health of young people, a vital aspect that must be addressed through policies focused on children and adolescents.
You can watch the entire meeting here.
