This weekend saw the launch of The State of the Tropics Report in Burma. This pivotal report has been the work of 12 key institutions across the world, including LSTM. It seeks to answer the simple question “Is life in the tropics getting better?” by analysing a range of environmental, social and economic indicators.
LSTM Director, Professor Janet Hemingway was present at the launch event which saw Nobel Laureate and Chair of the National League of Democracy, Burma present the report as part of a two day event in Rangoon. Professor Hemingway chaired one of the expert workshops, which saw representatives of partner organisations debate health and wellbeing in the region.
The report has been years in the planning and has been preceded by three early insight reports covering: Life Expectancy; Primary Forests and Wild Marine Catch. The report states that by 2-5- half of the world’s population and 67% of children under the age of 15 years will be living in the tropics and looks at the serious implications of these population levels for global policy makers.
State of The Tropics looks at the rapid economic growth within the region over the last 30 years, over which time it has outperformed the rest of the world. However the report also focusses on the unique challenges that the region faces, such as the fact that climate change has the potential to disproportionately affect the tropics, through impacts on human and food security, renewable water availability, rising sea levels and vector borne diseases.
The launch event was made available via satellite broadcast to media across the world, parts of which can still be viewed. The report itself is available for download by following this link.