The Lancet Countdown’s Inaugural Report on Health and Climate Change for Small Island States has been published. Led by GDAR’s very own Dr Georgiana Gordon-Strachan, Director of the Tropical Metabolism Research Unit at the Caribbean Institute for Health Research (CAIHR), University of the West Indies.
This report expands on the global Lancet Countdown 2023 and 2024 reports to explore the unique contexts, geographies, vulnerabilities, and needs that shape the evolving links between health and climate change in Small Island Developing States (SIDS) in the Pacific, Caribbean, and Atlantic, Indian Ocean, and South China Sea regions.
The core message is that a health-centred response is essential to allay the severity of the encroaching impacts of global climate change on the health and wellbeing of populations. Such a response requires international action from high-income countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This action, in conjunction with other locally and internally driven efforts, should enable a prosperous future for the SIDS, which collectively have low emissions.
Access the full report here.
Read the Guardian newspaper article here.