BU’s Institute for Global Sustainability hosted its first annual three-day CAFÉ Climate & Health Conference on Monday as part of a three-year $6.7 million grant funded by the National Institutes of Health for a climate-health research initiative led by the BU School of Public Health and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

Boston drivers lost an average of 48 hours to traffic in 2020 — down from 101 hours in 2019 — according to an INRIX report. The city’s congestion now ranks fourth in the United States, behind New York, Philadelphia and Chicago.

The Old South Church in Boston was filled with a crowd of approximately 50 as Environment Massachusetts hosted a panel Monday night to discuss the importance of renewable energy and the urgency of...