Minutes of CE-XXXVII

The minutes of the 37th IAI Executive Council meeting detail the establishment of a Science-Policy Advisory Committee, the approval of a US$ 1.37 million budget for FY 2014-2015, and the ongoing transition to a tripartite directorate structure in Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay. The IAI reports significant funding gaps from several member countries but is pursuing new multilateral funding models based on the Belmont Forum and strengthening its role as the regional link for the 'Future Earth' initiative.

• The IAI Executive Council (EC) established a process to create a Science-Policy Advisory Committee (SPAC) to improve the institute's science-policy interface. The SPAC will consist of 9 members: 3 nominated by the IAI Directorate, 3 by the Conference of the Parties (CoP), and 3 by the SPAC itself. For the initial term, 6 positions will be nominated by the CoP for a one-year term to allow member countries more time to identify candidates.
• The EC approved a Core Budget request for FY 2014-2015 totaling US$ 1,370,028, which represents a 6% increase over the previous year's operational budget. To fund this, the IAI Directorate proposed an 8.9% increase in member country contributions, raising the total fund target to US$ 1,400,000.
• The IAI faced significant financial challenges at the close of FY 2013-2014, with total uncollected contributions amounting to US$ 1.26 million. Specifically, Venezuela's debt totaled US$ 352,521, while Guatemala and the Dominican Republic paid no contributions.
• The IAI is implementing a tripartite directorate structure with offices in three countries. The Integrated Operations and Finance Directorate in Montevideo, Uruguay, is largely operational following a move that cost US$ 175,000. The Science-Policy Liaison Directorate in Buenos Aires, Argentina, is operative with office space in the Ministry of Science, Technology and Productive Innovation (MinCyT), though the hiring of its Director was delayed due to diploma legalization issues. The Science Development Directorate in Brazil has faced delays due to concerns over the Host Country Agreement's wording.
• The IAI is acting as the regional link for Latin America, and potentially the entire American continent, for the 'Future Earth' initiative, a merger of global change scientific organizations including IGBP, IHDP, and Diversitas.
• The EC encouraged member countries to adopt a funding model similar to the Belmont Forum to facilitate multilateral co-funding of global change research. Initial trial projects are being formulated for hydrology in mountainous zones (involving Chile, Argentina, and Peru, with invitations to Ecuador and Colombia) and for the La Plata Basin (involving the State of São Paulo, Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay).
• The IAI's Collaborative Research Network 3 (CRN3) program focuses on integrating human and natural sciences. To ensure policy relevance, 10% of the CRN budget was reserved for small projects addressing the framing of scientific approaches to real-world problems and the building of interdisciplinary teams.
• The EC recommended that member countries broaden the representation of interested groups within their nations beyond a single representative institution, citing the creation of a National Committee for the IAI in Uruguay as a positive model.

APA

Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (2014). Minutes of CE-XXXVII. http://iai.int/pdf/all/iai-ec-37-report-e.pdf

Chicago

Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research. Minutes of CE-XXXVII. 2014. http://iai.int/pdf/all/iai-ec-37-report-e.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research |title=Minutes of CE-XXXVII |date=12 August 2014 |url=http://iai.int/pdf/all/iai-ec-37-report-e.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{interamericaninstituteforglobalchangeresearch2014minutes, author = {{Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research}}, title = {{Minutes of CE-XXXVII}}, institution = {Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research}, year = {2014}, month = aug, url = {http://iai.int/pdf/all/iai-ec-37-report-e.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }