In early May, a five-institution partnership including the Yale Center on Climate Change and Health co-hosted a stakeholder dialogue on climate change and health in the Caribbean. The partnership aims to develop the first comprehensive research agenda for action on this topic in the Caribbean. With more than 100 participants from across the Caribbean region, the stakeholder dialogue builds on the previous work of a virtual conference held in October 2021 and encourages collaboration and capacity building on future research initiatives.

The two-day dialogue addressed themes of “Climate Change Health Impacts, Exposure and Vulnerability” and “Adaptation, Mitigation, Resources and Engagement.” Climate change is having multiple adverse health effects in the Caribbean, one of the most vulnerable regions in the world to the effects of the climate crisis. The region is comprised of some 16 diverse, independent countries and 15 territories of G-20 members, with more than 40 million residents and over 50 million visitors annually.

Climate change impacts in the region, including the effects of more intense hurricanes, accelerating sea level rise, extreme heat, warming oceans, and drought, 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 five partnering institutions from North America and the Caribbean are EarthMedic and EarthNurse Foundation for Planetary Health; Emory Rollins School of Public Health; Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization; the University of the West Indies; and Yale Center on Climate Change and Health at the Yale School of Public Health.

~~~

Learn more by visiting the Yale School of Public Health website.