Webinar: Climate Information: A New Resource for the Health Community

Friday, January 18, 2019

This webinar will discuss the potential value of climate information in routine epidemiological surveillance systems, early warning and risk assessment for climate-sensitive health outcomes as well as in the prevention of all types of hydro-meteorological disasters, infectious disease emergencies and nutrition crises.

To achieve evidence-based policies and practices for climate change adaptation for the health sector we need to know what we are adapting to. In this webinar, we will consider how climate information can help. The discussion will focus on the importance of a multi-timescale approach, new and innovative mechanisms for strengthening climate observations, data management and sharing, development of relevant climate services, inter-sectoral collaboration, training and capacity building – all of which must be built within an enabling policy environment.

The discussants’ premise is that improved management of health risks associated with climate variability (such as the heat early warning systems recently established in Europe and North America) increases the adaptive capacity of the public health sector to longer-term climate change. Understanding the policy drivers that influence programmatic development, funding streams and new opportunities for inter-sectoral engagement can help ensure delivery of climate services that meet decision-maker needs. In this webinar, chaired by Joy Shumake-Guillemot (World Health Organisation, World Meteorological Organisation Joint Office), Madeleine Thomson and Simon Mason (International Research Institute for Climate and Society, Columbia University) will discuss the opportunities and challenges that are associated with climate services for the health sector and provide examples of their use in practice in the field.