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The report identifies barriers to private urban climate investments across macro, city, and project levels, while highlighting success factors such as supportive regulatory frameworks and transparent working practices. It provides targeted recommendations for city governments, national governments, international finance institutions, and private/third sector partners to enhance project preparation, risk mitigation, and capacity development to enable bankable climate investments in emerging economies.

The document describes a 2023-2024 project to create the Water Sector Youth Leadership Network (WSYLN) in the Mekong-Lancang Region. The initiative aims to move beyond volunteerism by building a network of practitioners, researchers, and community leaders to improve inclusive water governance. Key activities include reviewing existing youth networks, providing capacity-building training, and hosting regional consultation workshops to strengthen partnerships between youth, researchers, and policymakers.

The 'Information Document: IAI Gender and EDI Policy Draft Implementation Plan' outlines a strategic framework to operationalize the Gender, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Policy of the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (IAI). Developed by a dedicated committee, the plan translates high-level policy objectives into eight specific operational goals and a series of actionable items aimed at reducing biases in science, improving hiring and grant selection, and increasing the visibility of equity-seeking groups within the global environmental change space.

The document outlines a comprehensive framework to integrate Gender, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) into the IAI's operations. It defines eight operational goals, ranging from improving hiring and funding processes to increasing the visibility of equity-seeking groups in global environmental change research. The plan includes specific actions such as requiring EDI and mentoring plans for all funded research proposals after 2023, developing evaluation rubrics to mitigate bias, and establishing an Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities Advisory Committee.

The IAI and the Degrees Initiative have entered into a cooperation agreement effective until December 31, 2025, focusing on solar radiation modification (SRM). The partnership aims to enhance institutional capacities in the Americas through joint scientific programs, information dissemination, and the empowerment of Global South scientists to evaluate SRM. The agreement outlines mechanisms for bilateral meetings, fundraising, and intellectual property management, while specifying that any specific projects involving fund transfers will require separate legal instruments.

The IAI's STeP Fellowship program, designed to train early-career scientists in the science-policy interface, has seen significant growth with 64 total fellows from 13 countries. In November 2022, 30 fellows participated in a Science Diplomacy Leadership Workshop in Uruguay, resulting in a leadership declaration. This declaration commits the fellows to transdisciplinary approaches, inclusive decision-making, and the pursuit of transformative change to address urgent challenges in the Americas.

The IAI Directorate reported progress in integrating gender and equity into scientific projects, enhancing the science-policy interface through the Science Diplomacy Center (SDC) and STeP fellowships, and implementing regional climate and health initiatives. Key achievements include the launch of a climate and health responder course for Latin America, the publication of a compendium on climate impacts in the LAC region, and the development of a drought information system for Southern South America. The Directorate also expanded its collaborative research actions with the Belmont Forum and established partnerships with organizations like the WMO and PAHO to improve climate risk assessments and early warning systems.

The IAI Executive Direction reports progress across science, capacity building, and strategic implementation between 2022 and 2023. Key achievements include the establishment of a Gender, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (GEDI) committee, the launch of the Science Diplomacy Center (SDC), and the expansion of the Science, Technology, and Policy (STeP) Fellowship program to 64 fellows from 13 countries. The IAI also advanced regional initiatives on the climate-health nexus, drought information systems in South America, and collaborative research through the Belmont Forum. Strategic partnerships were strengthened with organizations such as the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) to enhance climate risk assessment and science-policy interfaces in the Americas.

This briefing provides an update on the Initiative for enhancing capacity for climate risk assessment and catalyzing partnerships to inform decisions in Latin America and the Caribbean (LACI). It details the initiative's progress from a scoping and partnership building phase involving 14 countries to a pilot co-design phase featuring four specific projects aimed at strengthening climate risk assessments and data interoperability in the region.

This briefing provides an update on the Initiative for Conducting a National Climate Assessment in Support of Adaptation and Mitigation (LACI), an effort led by the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (IAI) to strengthen climate risk assessments and decision-making in Latin America and the Caribbean.

The report details two Steering Committee meetings held in Uruguay and the United States to define the vision, mission, and goals of the IAI Center for Science Diplomacy (SDC). Key recommendations include strengthening the science-policy interface in Latin America and the Caribbean, focusing on climate action priorities such as food security and ocean management, and developing a knowledge center for science diplomacy. The SDC aims to leverage the IAI's existing STeP fellowship program and collaborate with the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) for fundraising and capacity building.

The report argues that the Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA) should avoid a rigid, top-down indicator framework, which often creates bureaucratic burdens and fails to reflect local realities. Instead, it proposes a 'mixed approach' that combines a few high-level global targets with bottom-up, country-driven indicators derived from existing national MEL systems. The authors emphasize that the MEL system must be iterative and pragmatically bold, focusing on enhancing adaptive capacity and reducing vulnerability without imposing new reporting burdens on developing countries. Key recommendations include leveraging existing frameworks like the SDGs and the Sendai Framework, strengthening participatory processes, and defining clear roles for UNFCCC bodies to analyze collective progress for the Global Stocktake.

This briefing provides an update on the Latin America and Caribbean Initiative (LACI), an effort by the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (IAI) to strengthen climate risk assessments and capacity building for adaptation and mitigation in the region.

The report outlines the progress of the LACI initiative, which aims to strengthen climate risk assessments to support local and regional decision-making. Following a scoping phase involving 14 countries to identify priorities and map capacities, the initiative has entered a pilot co-design phase with four specific projects focusing on El Salvador, regional data interoperability, Amazonia, and Jamaica.

The Scientific Diplomacy Center (SDC) of the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (IAI) is establishing a framework to strengthen the science-policy interface across the Americas. The center aims to provide member states with scientific evidence to address global change challenges, including food security, water resources, and disaster risk management. Key proposed initiatives include developing a scientific diplomacy knowledge hub, creating training courses for policymakers and negotiators, and conducting outreach to analyze how scientific information is translated into policy. The SDC plans to co-design its three-year priority activities with IAI member states, with a specific engagement plan for COP 31 to ensure these initiatives meet regional needs.

The 2023 Extraordinary meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (IAI) was held on 18 April 2023 to elect a new Executive Director. Following a recruitment process overseen by a 10-member search committee, Dr. Anna Stewart Ibarra was recommended and subsequently elected to a three-year term. The search committee highlighted the need for the IAI to bridge the gap between science and policy to address global environmental change challenges in the Americas.

The Gender and Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Committee, composed of representatives from several American nations and scientific bodies, has developed a draft implementation plan for the IAI's Gender, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Policy. The report recommends the adoption of draft decisions to formalize the committee's monitoring role and to establish a new Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities Advisory Committee to ensure equitable participation in the Institute's scientific and strategic planning.

The document reports on the establishment and initial work of the IAI's Gender, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Committee, which has developed an implementation plan for the institute's gender policy. It recommends that the Conference of the Parties adopt provisional decisions to monitor this policy and establish a new Advisory Committee for Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IP&LC-AC).

The IAI Executive Directorate is engaging in informal conversations with Panama's National Secretariat for Science, Technology and Innovation (SENACYT) to establish a regional office. This initiative aims to increase the visibility of scientific projects and capacity-building activities, while encouraging non-member states in Central America and the Caribbean to join the IAI.

Viet Nam has established a national M&E system to track 142 priority adaptation actions across seven sectors under its National Adaptation Plan (NAP) 2021–2030. The system, launched in January 2022 with support from the UNDP and Green Climate Fund, utilizes an online platform to coordinate reporting between the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE), other ministries, and provincial-level People’s Committees. The M&E framework is designed to align with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction. Key lessons from the rollout emphasize the importance of building on existing approaches, starting with a moderate number of indicators, investing in digital reporting tools, and providing continuous capacity building for local authorities.