Consortium joining forces to address global crisis

An unprecedented consortium of more than 25 international, US, and Caribbean organisations, including The University of the West Indies (The UWI), has come together to address the public health challenge of climate change in the Caribbean, one of the most vulnerable regions in the world to the adverse health effects of the climate crisis. The first step in this collaboration is a virtual conference that will be held October 5-8, 2021.

Climate change is having multiple adverse health effects in the Caribbean. More intense hurricanes, accelerating sea level rise, extreme heat, warming oceans, drought, and other climate change impacts cause food and water insecurity, hurricane-induced disruption of medical care for persons living with chronic diseases, heat-related illness, spread of vector-borne and water-borne infections, diminished air quality, and mental health disorders.

The Caribbean’s costly non-communicable disease epidemic – cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, and respiratory disease – is in part caused by climate change drivers.

For example, in addition to emitting greenhouse gases, fossil fuel-dependent mechanised agriculture and motorised transport contribute to air pollution, sedentariness, unhealthy diets, obesity, and mental illness.

The Caribbean region comprises some 16 diverse, independent countries and 15 territories of G-20 members, with more than 40 million residents and over 50 million visitors annually.

The region has of necessity developed some climate adaptation and disaster response and recovery capacity, but is limited by inadequate access to financing, by weak monitoring and data systems for evidence-informed planning and execution, and by challenges in alignment
of effort across such a diverse range of countries, territories, and sectors.

The conference focuses on the information key stakeholders need for action:

• October 5: The Varied Effects of Climate Changeon Health

• October 6: Immediate Health Benefits of Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation

• October 7: The Health Sector and its Role in Addressing Climate Change and Health

• October 8: Participation, Representation, and Collaboration to Implement the Research Agenda

Expected conference outputs include:

• An action-oriented research and implementation agenda to address knowledge and implementation gaps

• A white paper for publication in a peer-reviewed journal

• A communication product for the public and media

• A presentation of the conference results at the WHO Global Conference on Health and Climate Change COP26 side event

The University of the West Indies will be offering the knowledge of nine contributors who boast expertise across various areas.

Among them are Dr. Barbara Carby, former Director of the Disaster Risk Reduction Centre; Professor Michelle Mycoo, Geomatics Engineering and Land Management, The UWI St. Augustine Campus; Professor Mona Webber, Director of the Centre for Marine Sciences, The UWI Mona Campus; Professor Hazel Oxenford, Centre for Resource Management and Environmental Studies, The UWI Cave Hill Campus; Mr. Jeremy Collymore, Institute for Sustainable Development; Professor Chris Oura, School of Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Medical Sciences, The UWI St. Augustine Campus; Mr. Rashad Brathwaite, Faculty of Law, The  UWI Cave Hill Campus; Professor Michael Taylor, Dean of the Faculty of Science and Technology, The UWI Mona Campus; and Dr. Georgiana Gordon-Strachan, Director of the Tropical Metabolism Research Unit, Caribbean Institute for Health Research (CAIHR).

A key conference goal is the formation and strengthening of networks and linkages among participants to help promote action on climate change and health.

After the conference, the consortium will work to finalise the research and implementation agenda and to obtain funding for, and coordinate and track progress in, its implementation.

The conference has received funding from The Edward J. and Dorothy Clarke Kempf Memorial Fund, the Council on Latin American & Iberian Studies at The Whitney and Betty MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies at Yale, the Burroughs Wellcome Fund, the European Union, the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health, Emory University Rollins School of Public Health, the Yale Institute for Global Health, the Inter-American Development Bank, and the Guardian Group Charitable Foundation.

According to Dr. Stacy Richards-Kennedy, Pro Vice-Chancellor, Global Affairs at The UWI, “The UWI is pleased to join forces with our regional and international partners to place the spotlight on the important nexus between climate change and health. Sustaining the momentum of our collective action is the only way to effectively address our current climate crisis.

Global warming continues to wreak havoc on the Caribbean and at the same time, our highly vulnerable SIDS are also grappling with a financial crisis precipitated by the COVID-19 pandemic and the multiple effects of chronic diseases on our populations.

As we build up to COP 26, The UWI remains committed to strengthening the science-policy interface and to amplifying the perspectives and experiences of Caribbean states in the global discourse on climate change.”

Registration for the conference is free and is available here. Simultaneous interpretation from English to Spanish and English to French will be available. A complete list of consortium partners can be found here. (PR)