2022: UCL Lancet Countdown: Tracking Progress on Health and Climate Change Regional Centre in Small Island Developing States – Dr. Georgiana Gordon-Strachan

Unabated anthropogenic climate change driven by the emission of greenhouse gases has been described as the biggest global health threat of the 21st century. Even though small island developing states like those of the Caribbean contribute less than 1% of greenhouse gas emissions they are the most vulnerable to climate change. The Lancet Countdown through an international, multi-disciplinary collaboration, of over 35 academic and UN institutions comprising over 140 experts has been tracking the progress of health and climate change since 2015.

Recognizing the vulnerability of small island developing states to climate change, this project seeks to establish a Lancet Countdown Regional Centre for Small Island Developing States to track progress on health and climate change, by bringing together institutions in the Caribbean Sea as well as institutions in SIDS in the Pacific region as and within the region spanning the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, Mediterranean and South China Sea (AIMS).

This centre will aim to address some of the identified priority areas of health and climate change in SIDS, build a network of regional expertise, feed into the global work of the Lancet Countdown, and ensure its work is effectively communicated to policymakers. Habitat.

Investigators: Georgiana Gordon-Strachan, Principal Investigator. Project Manager: Cherie-Ann Small

Sponsor: Wellcome Trust (Funding Agency), University College London (Lead Institution)