Informe de la 60.a reunión del Consejo Ejecutivo del IAI

The 60th meeting of the Executive Council of the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (IAI), held on January 8, 2026, focused on the institutional and financial crisis triggered by the United States' withdrawal from the organization. The Council discussed severe budget reductions, the need for institutional restructuring, and efforts to diversify funding through development banks and philanthropic organizations. The meeting concluded with the decision to convene an Extraordinary Conference of the Parties in March 2026 to address these challenges.

• The United States government issued a memorandum on January 7, 2026, announcing its withdrawal from 35 non-UN organizations, including the IAI, and 31 UN agencies.
• The withdrawal of voluntary contributions from the United States is expected to cause a significant budget shortfall, potentially reducing available operating resources by two-thirds; however, essential operations could be maintained with approximately one-third of the current budget.
• To mitigate financial instability, the IAI is diversifying its funding sources, having signed cooperation agreements with the Development Bank of Latin America (CAF) and FONPLATA. Cooperation with CAF focuses on biodiversity indicators for regional investments, while the partnership with FONPLATA emphasizes water security in the Río de la Plata basin.
• The IAI is pursuing philanthropic funding through collaborations with the Belmont Forum, Pew Charitable Trusts, the Rockefeller Foundation, Common Ground Challenges Canada, and the Avina Foundation, including plans to establish a non-profit organization in the United States to mobilize these funds.
• The IAI's scientific agenda includes several active research streams: three projects on migration and immobility via the Belmont Forum, a climate-environment-health program consisting of twelve pilot projects and six larger teams, and eight seed projects related to forests (six supported by IAI and SENACYT, and two by FAPESC in Brazil).
• The Scientific Diplomacy Program has expanded its reach through a Virtual Campus with courses in three languages and in-person workshops in Brazil and El Salvador. Future strategic collaborations are planned with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Peru and a project for Central America and the Dominican Republic starting in February in Santo Domingo.
• The Executive Council decided to establish an ad hoc committee to recommend institutional restructuring and a revised budget, and called for an Extraordinary Conference of the Parties on March 9, 2026, to address the impact of the U.S. withdrawal.

APA

Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (2026). Informe de la 60.a reunión del Consejo Ejecutivo del IAI. http://iai.int/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/EC-60-final-report_ES.pdf

Chicago

Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research. Informe de la 60.a reunión del Consejo Ejecutivo del IAI. 2026. http://iai.int/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/EC-60-final-report_ES.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research |title=Informe de la 60.a reunión del Consejo Ejecutivo del IAI |date=25 March 2026 |url=http://iai.int/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/EC-60-final-report_ES.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{interamericaninstituteforglobalchangeresearch2026informe, author = {{Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research}}, title = {{Informe de la 60.a reunión del Consejo Ejecutivo del IAI}}, institution = {Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research}, year = {2026}, month = mar, url = {http://iai.int/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/EC-60-final-report_ES.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }