AASSA Working Group on Climate Change and Health meets virtually

The  AASSA Working Group on Climate Change and Health met by zoom on 17 June 2020 and included participation from Malaysia, Australia, China, India, Korea, Nepal, Pakistan and New Zealand. The meeting participants described their progress made in providing country assessments according to the template previously discussed, recognising that countries will vary in the data available and that progress has been slowed by COVID-19. In addition to the countries represented in the Working Group, plans are in progress to obtain information and perspectives on other countries in the AASSA region, e.g. Pacific Island States, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh.
During the meeting, the end of July was agreed as a new deadline was agreed for the country reports. The timetable and critical issues for the next steps following compilation of country reports were also reviewed. It is not yet known if a workshop in the autumn will be physically possible in Korea or Malaysia but an ambitious timetable for AASSA regional report drafting, Working Group discussion and peer review was supported by all. AASSA still expects to be able to finalise the regional report and deliver to IAP as input to the global report by early 2021. Dr Robin Fears, who is the scentific project director for this global project, will also be a member of the editorial board for the AASSA report.