Professor Idil Boran is the Principal Investigator (PI) of one of the three large-scale team grants awarded to York University in the New Frontiers Research Fund International - 2023 International Joint Initiative for Research in Climate Adaptation and Mitigation competition.

The grant — valued at $3.1M — has been awarded to Professor Boran with co-PI University Professor Dawn Bazely from the Department of Biology, and two other York University professors, Angele Alook, Tarra Penney and Felipe Montoya, for the Biodiversity Integration in Climate Adaptation and Mitigation Actions for Planet (BioCAM4) consortium project. BioCAM4, People and Human Health project will develop supports for good governance practices to halt biodiversity decline and to accelerate Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) in Central America and East Africa.

In addition to New Frontiers in Research Fund International, the consortium receives funding from the German Research Foundation and the United Kingdom Research and Innovation with the partnership of the German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS) and the Institute of Zoology of the Zoological Society of London.

“I am thrilled that my work with civil society colleagues over the last 12 years at the United Nations Climate Change meetings has come to fruition in this spectacular way. Supported by this prestigious grant, our excellent and diverse international team will co-create knowledge that will sustain nature and improve human health and livelihoods worldwide”, shares Boran.

Climate change is accelerating biodiversity decline, leading to even more rapid climate breakdown. NBS need collaborative efforts with multi-actor, cross-sectoral collaborative commitments that integrate nature and biodiversity considerations within climate mitigation and adaptation strategies.

Professor Boran’s BioCAM4 consortium project, which brings together experts from diverse fields, aims to achieve three main objectives:

• To create a global map and analysis of NBS and establish a user-friendly database to offer insights on their distribution, patterns and effectiveness.
• To investigate and identify local challenges with implementing and scaling-up NBS in Kenya, Rwanda, Costa Rica and Guatemala.
• To translate the insights gained into capacity-strengthening activities with policymakers. This will be achieved through the team’s science diplomacy skills and policy expertise.

“York University has provided me with a decades-long platform for doing interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research, so being part of Idil’s project team is yet another huge privilege, and a further opportunity to make positive change in the world,” said Bazely.

The New Frontiers Research Fund International grant is awarded to innovative research with the potential to create transformative impacts and tackle global challenges caused by climate change. Collaborative research and policy outreach on global and local scales will enhance capacity for Nature-Based Climate Actions (NBCA) and address global climate change challenges.

Professor Boran is full professor in the Department of Philosophy, specializing in applied environmental governance and public policy. Boran has actively participated in the UN Climate Change conferences, organizing and speaking at side events since 2012. Alongside journal publications on global climate change governance, Boran is the author of Political Theory and Global Climate Action: Recasting the Public Sphere (Routledge, 2019).