19th December 2025

IAI - the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research

Founded in 1992 by the Declaration of Montevideo, the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (IAI) is a regional, intergovernmental organisation that convenes 19 member countries across the Americas around a simple premise: when science, policy, and society work together, the region is better prepared to response to the challenges of global environmental change. From the outset, the IAI has championed scientific excellence, open data, and international cooperation as the backbone of informed decision-making.

The IAI’s vision is a sustainable, inclusive, and well-informed Americas—one where evidence and equity guide choices on climate, biodiversity, and health. To get there, the IAI builds scientific capacity, brokers partnerships among researchers, governments, and civil society, and co-produces usable knowledge that can move from papers to practice. Since 2018, the IAI has also hosted the Belmont Forum Secretariat, amplifying transdisciplinary collaboration among research funders and global science councils. In short, the IAI functions as both a knowledge hub and a bridge: connecting disciplines, countries, and communities so that science can translate into policies and actions that matter—especially for those most vulnerable to the cascading risks of a changing planet.

Biodiversity underpins human health in ways that are at once direct and subtle. Intact ecosystems regulate water quality, buffer floods and heat, and control vectors of disease; they also sustain livelihoods and cultural practices fundamental to wellbeing. Across the Americas—home to the world’s richest biomes and some of its most unequal societies—these services are increasingly stressed by climate change, land conversion, and pollution. The IAI’s work sits at this intersection: it supports research and policy dialogue that treat biodiversity not as a backdrop, but as a critical determinant of health and development.

This perspective is inherently transdisciplinary. The IAI convenes epidemiologists and ecologists alongside urban planners, Indigenous leaders, economists, health practitioners, and legal scholars. Together, they explore how climate extremes—from drought to heatwaves—interact with land use, food systems, and mobility to shape disease exposure, nutrition, and mental health. By engaging with regional and global partners such as the UNFCCC, PAHO/WHO, WMO, and the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Institute helps align scientific insights with policy frameworks that governments are already using—accelerating the adoption of One Health and Planetary Health approaches and Nature-based Solutions.

Vulnerable populations—rural communities, migrants, and those living in informal urban settlements—face disproportionate risk from environmental degradation and climate volatility. The IAI’s emphasis on co-production aims to ground research questions in local realities and translate results into tools and guidance that are usable by national and local governments, as well as other actors. To strengthen these efforts, the IAI Directorate established an Indigenous Peoples Advisory Committee (IPAC), ensuring that diverse perspectives, experiences, and knowledge systems guide the Institute’s scientific agenda and work on global environmental change.

This integrative stance extends to governance. The IAI has contributed to thought leadership that links biodiversity and health within the broader architecture of human rights, including the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment. By positioning biodiversity as essential public health infrastructure—and by embedding it in development planning—the Institute helps decision-makers weigh trade-offs, target investments, and design interventions that deliver multiple benefits: reducing climate risk, protecting ecosystems, and improving health outcomes. The result is a practical, forward-looking agenda: protect and restore nature; prepare health systems for climate-linked hazards; and tailor solutions with and for communities so that progress is both scientifically sound and socially just.

Climate, Environment and Health for the Americas (since 2022)
Launched with the Pan American Health Organisation and the Global Consortium on Climate and Health Education, this initiative mobilises transdisciplinary knowledge to support policy action at the climate–environment–health nexus. A central pillar is capacity building: through the IAI Virtual Campus, the program has delivered six massive, multilingual open courses to thousands of practitioners—ranging from public health officials and municipal planners to researchers and civil society leaders. These courses do more than transmit information; they create communities of practice that share case studies, data resources, and implementation lessons across borders.

Complementing training with applied research, the initiative awarded 12 seed grants spanning 15 countries (US$180,000 total). These small, agile projects test practical approaches to pressing problems—such as heat-health early warning systems, climate-smart vector control, and ecosystem-based measures that safeguard water quality. Each project is co-designed with local partners to ensure that outputs—decision tools, policy briefs, or protocol pilots—are readily adoptable by institutions on the ground. Early outcomes include strengthened cross-sector coordination, improved access to actionable climate-health data, and tailored guidance for municipal and national authorities.

Human Migration and Mobility in an Era of Rapid Global Change (2023)
Through the Belmont Forum Collaborative Research Action, hosted by the IAI, three projects in four Latin American countries (US$450,000) are investigating the links between environmental change, migration, and health. The work focuses on vulnerable communities experiencing climate-sensitive displacement or seasonal mobility, where health risks can compound—heat stress, vector-borne diseases, nutrition insecurity, and barriers to care. By bringing together researchers, policymakers, and civil society, the projects co-produce evidence that can inform anticipatory governance: for example, integrating environmental indicators into health surveillance, tailoring services along mobility corridors, and planning for climate-resilient shelter and water systems. The goal is not only to understand the drivers and impacts, but also to generate feasible, rights-respecting strategies that align humanitarian response with long-term, sustainable development.

Knowledge into policy
The IAI’s Science Diplomacy Center (SDC) promotes evidence-based decision-making and fosters transdisciplinary networks of policymakers, scientists, and civil society to tackle complex, interconnected challenges that impact livelihoods and well-being across the Americas. The SDC trains governments in science diplomacy approaches to address issues such as drought, water security, and climate change with linkages to key sectors such as health through regional collaboration, capacity building, and knowledge sharing.

Together, these efforts illustrate the IAI’s model: build capacity, seed innovation, and strengthen the evidence-to-policy pipeline, enabling countries to protect nature, safeguard health, and advance equitable development.

Learn more & contact

Website: https://www.iai.int/

Email: iai@dir.iai.int

(Additional scientific outputs and program information are available via the IAI website’s Programs and Resources sections.)