Minutes of the Twenty-fourth IAI Conference of the Parties (CoP)

The minutes of the Twenty-fourth IAI Conference of the Parties (CoP), held in Santiago, Chile, on June 15-16, 2016, detail the governance, financial, and scientific progress of the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research. The CoP approved the core budget and annual program for fiscal year 2016-2017, elected new members to the Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC), the Science-Policy Advisory Committee (SPAC), and the Executive Council, and addressed the restructuring of the Executive Director selection process. Key discussions focused on enhancing science-policy linkages, diversifying funding through the proposed Inter-American Forum of Funding Agencies, and improving member country engagement.

• The CoP approved the Core Budget Request and the unchanged level of country contributions for the 2016-2017 fiscal year, as well as the Annual Plan for the same period.
• The IAI is working to establish the Inter-American Forum of Funding Agencies to formalize international research co-funding and reduce dependency on the US National Science Foundation (NSF). Argentina, FAPESP, Guatemala, Mexico, Panama, Uruguay, and the USA have committed to signing the agreement.
• The 2015 search for a new Executive Director was interrupted due to procedural errors. The CoP decided to reopen the call with a newly defined profile and skills set, while also reviewing the Agreement Establishing the IAI to potentially extend the Director's term from three to four years (renewable once).
• The Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) recommended restructuring future calls for proposals to be more frequent (annually or biennially) and to include tiered project sizes: large multi-year million-dollar projects, mid-scale projects, and small grants.
• The IAI's capacity building efforts, including the Seed Grant Program, have developed 11 networks of 67 professionals across 53 institutions in 15 member countries, leveraging USD 180K from home institutions alongside USD 221K from the IAI.
• The Science-Policy Advisory Committee (SPAC) identified three primary objectives for its work: impact (improving visibility among policy makers), relevance (identifying regionally relevant needs for the research agenda), and financing (diversifying funding options).
• The CoP addressed member country participation issues, noting that some countries have multi-year arrears. To encourage re-engagement, the CoP decided that small countries with arrears could cancel their debts by organizing events or activities attributable to the IAI core budget.
• The IAI is implementing a Tripartite governance structure with operational offices in Montevideo and Buenos Aires. Negotiations for a host country agreement with Brazil are ongoing, with the committee working with Rede Clima to advance the Science Development Directorate.

APA

Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (2016). Minutes of the Twenty-fourth IAI Conference of the Parties (CoP). http://iai.int/pdf/all/iai-cop-24-report-e.pdf

Chicago

Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research. Minutes of the Twenty-fourth IAI Conference of the Parties (CoP). 2016. http://iai.int/pdf/all/iai-cop-24-report-e.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research |title=Minutes of the Twenty-fourth IAI Conference of the Parties (CoP) |date=15 June 2016 |url=http://iai.int/pdf/all/iai-cop-24-report-e.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{interamericaninstituteforglobalchangeresearch2016minutes, author = {{Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research}}, title = {{Minutes of the Twenty-fourth IAI Conference of the Parties (CoP)}}, institution = {Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research}, year = {2016}, month = jun, url = {http://iai.int/pdf/all/iai-cop-24-report-e.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }