Department of Global Health and Population members attend COP30
On Monday, November 10, the 30th Conference of the Parties (COP30) commenced in Belém, Brazil, kicking off two weeks of conversations about climate change. Among those attending the conference were the Department of Global Health and Population’s Marcia Castro, Andelot Professor of Demography and chair of the department, and Kenzo Kimura, second-year student in GHP’s SM-80 program.
On November 10, Marcia joined the panel, “Resilience as a Pillar of Primary Health Care in Latin America and the Caribbean Report Launch.” She was joined by Rômulo Paes de Sousa, president of Abrasco (Brazilian Association of Collective Health); Adriano Massuda, vice minister of health, Brazil; Taissa Vila, editor-in-chief at The Lancet Regional Health – Americas; and Cristian Roberto Morales Fuhrimann, Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) representative in Brazil. The panel focused on the findings of a recent Lancet Commission for which Marcia was an academic co-chair and which emphasizes the link between resilience and primary health care in the face of natural, anthropogenic, and climate change-related shocks. Read the report here to learn more.
On November 12, Marcia participated in a high-level roundtable reflecting on the legacy of Health Day and crafting plans to integrate health and climate action moving forward, with a special focus on the Amazon. Meanwhile, Kenzo joined Peace Boat US, speaking at an official United Nations press conference on youth leadership and the UN Ocean Decade. Kenzo drew on his experience working with the Ahtna tribe in Alaska and his community service initiatives in Boston through the Harvard Chan Student Government Association to contribute to the conversation linking ocean health, climate justice, and peace.
Faculty and students from across Harvard were pleased to attend the conference. Check out the Salata Institute to learn more about Harvard at COP30.
