From the Amazon to the Antarctic: IANAS Expands Its Global Scientific Agenda

The InterAmerican Network of Academies of Sciences (IANAS) will hold a session during the Arctic Circle Forum – From Glaciers to the Seas, to be held in Rome, Italy, on March 3-4, 2026. The Arctic Circle Forum is a leading global forum dedicated to Arctic and broader polar issues, convening policymakers, scientists, Indigenous representatives, and civil society to address environmental change, sustainable development, and international cooperation in the polar regions.

Organized by IANAS under the leadership of Prof. Juan Cristina, President of the National Academy of Sciences of Uruguay, the session will bring together leading scientists and science leaders from the Americas, Europe, and the circumpolar community, highlighting the role of academies of sciences in advancing inclusive, evidence-based international dialogue on polar regions.

Session Overview

Entitled “Only One World: Towards a Polar Dialogue that Includes the South”, the session will take place on March 4 at 14:00 (Rome time) and will promote a truly hemispheric and interregional dialogue, underscoring the scientific, environmental, and geopolitical interconnections between the Arctic and the Antarctic, emphasizing the importance of incorporating perspectives from the Global South into global polar governance. The speakers will be:

• Juan Cristina, President, National Academy of Science of Uruguay
• Jefferson Simões, Professor, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul; Member, Brazilian Academy of Sciences; Former Vice-President, Scientific Committee of Antarctic Research
• Giuliana Panieri, Director, Institute of Polar Sciences – National Research Council of Italy (CNR-ISP)
• Dermot Antoniades, Associate Professor – Tier II Canada Research Chair, Université Laval, Canada; Professor of Limnology, Universidad de la República, Uruguay
• H.E. Katrín Jakobsdóttir, Chair, Arctic Circle Polar Dialogue; Prime Minister of Iceland 2017-2024

Building on this experience, IANAS expects to launch a new initiative focused on the Antarctic region, complementing its existing Amazon Initiative. Through these efforts, the Academies of Sciences of the Americas seek to contribute in a coordinated manner to addressing urgent and sensitive issues of major relevance to both the region and the planet.

Click here to access the full program of the Arctic Circle Forum.