The 2023 Latin America report of the Lancet Countdown on health and climate change: the imperative for health-centred climate-resilient development

What the tragic floods in Southern Brazil tell us about health-centered climate-resilient development in Latin American cities

“…The 2023 Lancet Countdown Latin America report 9 suggests that mitigation policies remain insufficient and highlight the absence of comprehensive national and especially city-level climate adaptation plans and risk assessments. While Brazil and several state capitals have established climate adaptation plans, Porto Alegre (state capital) and other cities in Rio Grande do Sul lack such a plan, which may have contributed to its largely uncoordinated response.…”

“…Health-centered responses 9 have been promoted to build transformative responses that overcome immediatism, top-down and isolated measures. Nonetheless, the case of Southern Brazil echoes the arguments made by van Daalen et al., 1 emphasising that such responses should be guided by a focus on vulnerability and thinking about the Brazilian context, we would add an intersectionality lens.…”