Amman: Participants in the Climate Change and Health in the Arab Region Conference (CCHAR-II 2026) have called for strengthening and supporting Jordanian and Arab efforts to translate scientific evidence and research findings into practical, actionable policies and interventions to address the growing health impacts of climate change and enhance communities' capacity to adapt and build resilience. The participants also stressed the importance of Jordan's role in leading and coordinating these efforts at the regional level.
According to Jordan News Agency, the conference, held in Amman and concluding its work on Wednesday, brought together a group of scientists, specialists, and researchers from Arab and foreign countries. Discussions focused on the need to move beyond knowledge and research production toward applying scientific findings in policymaking, amid challenges including limited local data, fragmented monitoring systems, weak intersectoral coordination, capacity shortages, and governance, financing, and accountability challenges.
Participants emphasized that the existence of national adaptation plans and strategies represents an important step, but stressed that the priority should now be to accelerate implementation and link these plans to budgets and clear, measurable performance indicators.
A press statement issued by the conference on Friday recommended developing sustainable and integrated monitoring systems to track climate-related impacts across water, diseases, healthcare, energy, and food security sectors, and linking the resulting data to policymaking. They noted that Jordan has a model that can be built upon, particularly given the integration of data available to researchers, while stressing the need to strengthen the health sector's presence within national climate action frameworks.
The conference also called for building capacity in interdisciplinary systems science and strengthening cooperation among different sectors. Participants recommended making greater use of existing scientific institutions in Jordan, including the GeoHealth Hub for Climate Change in the Arab Region and the Global Center for Climate, Water, Energy, Food and Health Systems at Jordanian universities, in a move aimed at consolidating Jordan's position as a regional hub for knowledge and expertise exchange.
The recommendations further stressed the importance of adopting evidence-based budgeting and linking policies to specific, measurable health outcomes. Participants said that focusing on tangible health outcomes such as the relationship between rising temperatures and rainfall patterns and certain diseases, or between dust storms and increased asthma cases could be more effective in supporting decision-making than addressing climate change in broad terms. They called for developing local evidence demonstrating these links and helping direct resources toward the interventions with the greatest impact.
The conference also emphasized the importance of accountability and key performance indicators, linking them to government budgets and programs. Participants suggested that Jordan's Economic Modernization Vision could be leveraged to develop indicators measuring outcomes and impact. They also called for periodic reports on the implementation of climate and health plans to be submitted to oversight and legislative bodies.
Participants recommended making greater use of water-quality data as an important indicator of climate-related changes and called for making data on nitrates, pollutants, and other indicators available to researchers and relevant institutions to support disease forecasting and the development of early warning systems.
Dr. Ahmad Al-Salaymeh, chairman of the conference's organizing committee, said successful interventions require multisectoral partnerships and the involvement of stakeholders, as well as drawing on successful regional experiences. He also stressed the importance of strengthening political and scientific dialogue to help build consensus around policies, noting that working within separate institutional "silos" limits the effectiveness of responses to the health impacts of climate change.
The recommendations stressed the need for sustainable national funding for climate and health initiatives rather than relying solely on external financing. They also called for empowering environmental health directorates and departments within health ministries, particularly in Jordan, to take a proactive approach, develop clear performance indicators, and strengthen their role in planning for and responding to climate and health risks.
The conference further highlighted the importance of knowledge transfer and the exchange of successful experiences among Arab countries, as well as documenting policies and implementation tools that can be adapted and applied by participating countries. In the energy sector, participants recommended exploring and developing decentralized solar energy systems coupled with storage technologies, given their potential to support the energy transition, reduce air pollution, and improve health outcomes.
Dr. Wael Al-Dulaimi, a professor of public health at the University of California San Diego and director of projects funded by the US National Institutes of Health for the conference, said Jordan has the scientific and institutional capabilities needed to strengthen its regional role in climate and health. He called for building on these capabilities and expanding partnerships among the government, universities, research centers, private sector, and civil society to establish an approach that links science to policy, financing to implementation, budgets to outcomes, and accountability to impact.