IDRC at the What Works Climate Solutions Summit

On 9 June, IDRC’s director for Global Health, Montasser Kamal, will highlight significant contributions from Southern-led climate adaptation research and knowledge brokering at a panel discussion entitled Towards a rigorous knowledge base on what works for evidence-based climate policies and enhanced IPCC assessments.

The nexus of climate change, pandemic preparedness and health-systems strengthening will be the focus of IDRC’s Global Health program at WWCS, while the Climate Adaptation and Resilience (CLARE) framework research program — jointly designed, funded and run by the United Kingdom's Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and IDRC — will advance the conversation on how action-oriented research is supporting inclusive climate change adaptation and resilience.

WWCS is a high-level conference on evidence-based climate policy. This year’s conference will centre on the theme “Synthesizing evidence for effective and equitable climate solutions.” Representatives from IDRC, FCDO and more than 10 active research projects will host multiple sessions highlighting ongoing work on climate change and amplifying the perspectives of climate and health experts from low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). 

Some of the projects and related participants to be featured at WWCS sessions are: 

Global Health

• Developing an early warning and response system for climate-sensitive waterborne disease outbreaks in Benin (Anders Dalsgaard, Copenhagen University, Denmark; Victorien Dougnon, Université Abomey Calavi, Bénin; and Alida Oussou and Toussaint Mitchodigni, PhD students, Université Abomey Calavi, Bénin)
• Scoping study and regional consultation on climate-sensitive infectious diseases and health outcomes in sub-Saharan Africa (Ariel Brunn and Eleanor Delight, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, United Kingdom)
• Scoping study and regional consultation on climate-sensitive infectious diseases and health outcomes in Latin America and the Caribbean (Monica Pinilla and Natalia Niño, Universidad de los Andes, Colombia) 
• Inclusive, responsive and resilient health systems of the future (Gareth Priday, Action Foresight, Australia)
• Multi-disciplinary consultation to address gaps and priorities in research to address climate change and health (Zulfiqar Bhutta, Ruby Syal and Daina Als, SickKids Centre for Global Child Health, Canada)

CLARE

• CLARE Research for Impact Hub (Suzanne Carter, SouthSouthNorth, South Africa)
• Resilience and preparedness to tropical cyclones across Southern Africa (REPRESA) (Genito Maure, Eduardo Mondlane University, Mozambique) 
• Designing inclusive African coastal cities’ resilience (INACCT Resilience) (Genito Maure, Eduardo Mondlane University, Mozambique) 
• Building WOmen Smallholder Farmers’ empowerment and adaptive capacities: A pathway to Enhancing women’s Resilience to climate change in Uganda (WOSFER) (Florence Muhanguzi Kyoheirwe, Makerere University, Uganda)
• Synthesis program for African research on climate change (BAOBAB) (Luckson Zvobgo, University of Cape Town, South Africa) 
• Other projects involved in WWCS are mentioned below. 

IDRC is committed to addressing critical knowledge gaps at the intersection of climate change and health. A recently closed call for expressions of interest will fund up to five regional hubs in the Global South on this subject. 

Our Global Health team will present a scientific panel on maximizing climate and health co-benefits of climate action in LMICs to address regional evidence mapping, priority research and policy agendas, and stakeholder mobilization. The session will bring together civil society and research experts from Africa, Asia and the Americas to share insights on the conducive factors that lead to climate and health co-benefits in their regions, as well as views on priority research, policy agendas and pathways for change. 

CLARE will host a scientific session on evidence-based climate adaptation action through transdisciplinary, co-created, capacity-focused research and syntheses. This session will showcase the evidence and syntheses being produced by CLARE projects, highlighting examples on migration as adaptation in South Asia, preparing for tropical cyclones across Southern Africa, enhancing women’s smallholder farmers’ adaptive capacities in Uganda and advancing capacity for synthesis research across Africa. CLARE is a CAD180-million program on climate adaptation and resilience, aiming to enable socially inclusive and sustainable action to build resilience to climate change and natural hazards.