To assess the status of the legal framework for air quality control in all countries of Latin America and Caribbean (LAC); to determine the current distribution of air monitoring stations and mean levels of air pollutants in all capital and large cities (more than 100 000 inhabitants); and to discuss the implications for climate change and public policymaking.

Climate change is a social justice as well as an environmental issue. The magnitude and pattern of changes in weather and climate variables are creating differential exposures, vulnerabilities, and health risks that increase stress on health systems while exacerbating existing and creating new health inequities. Examples from national and local health adaptation projects highlight that developing partnerships across sectors and levels are critical for building climate- resilient health systems and communities. Strengthening current and implementing new health interventions, such as using environmental information to develop early warning systems, can be effective in protecting the most vulnerable.

To inform policy by providing an overview of systematic reviews on interventions that facilitate sustainable energy use and have a positive impact on health. Methods. Systematic review methods were used to synthesize evidence from multiple systematic reviews and economic evaluations through a comprehensive search of 13 databases and nine websites based on a pre-defined protocol, including clear inclusion criteria. Both grey and peer-reviewed literature published in English, Spanish, and Portuguese during the 17 years from January 1997 – January 2014 was included.

To explore distributional inequality of key health outcomes as determined by access coverage to water and sanitation (WS) between countries in the Region of the Americas. Methods. An ecological study was designed to explore the magnitude and change-over-time of standard gap and gradient metrics of environmental inequalities in health at the country level in 1990 and 2010 among the 35 countries of the Americas. Access to drinking water and access to improved sanitation facilities were selected as equity stratifies. Five dependent variables were: total and healthy life expectancies at birth, and infant, under-5, and maternal mortality.

To identify interventions that 1) facilitate sustainable development by preventing toxic exposure to chemicals, including pesticides, and 2) have a positive impact on health.  Methods. This overview utilized systematic review methods to synthesize evidence from multiple systematic reviews and economic evaluations. A comprehensive search was conducted based on a predefined protocol, including clear inclusion criteria. To be classified as "sustainable" interventions needed to aim (explicitly or implicitly) to 1) have a positive impact on at least two key dimensions of the United Nations integrated framework for sustainable development and 2) include measures of health impact.

Rapid climate change poses direct and unprecedented challenges to human health on a global scale. These include the burden of disease from environmental risks-expected to rise steadily over the coming years-and direct and indirect effects on human health due to disruptions and shifts in services provided by ecosystems. In response to two major 2015 global climate change conventions-the "Paris Agreement" and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development-PAHO's Special Program on Sustainable Development and Health Equity (SDE) held a symposium in 2015,  "Climate-smart sustainable societies: addressing public health vulnerabilities and promoting sustainable adaptation now," to contextualize these goals for the Region of the Americas.