15th September 2021
The Hon Scott Morrison MP Prime Minister
Parliament House CANBERRA ACT 2600
CC
Minister for Health
Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction
Minister for the Environment
Minister for Industry, Science and Technology
Minister for Agriculture, Drought and Emergency Management Minister for Indigenous Australians
Dear Prime Minister,
Australian doctors call for urgent and meaningful action on climate change
Medical leaders across the country are calling on your government to urgently take much greater action to avert a further deterioration of the current climate crisis. With the crucial UN climate change conference (COP26) just weeks away, Australia must significantly lift its commitment to the global effort to bring climate change under control in order to save lives and protect health.
Australia must talk less about aspiration, and focus on firm and binding commitments that are aligned with the science.
The Australian Medical Association (AMA) and Doctors for the Environment Australia (DEA) are coming together with the Australasian College of Emergency Medicine (ACEM), the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists (ANZCA), the
Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine (ACRRM), the College of Intensive Care Medicine of Australia and New Zealand (CICM), the Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP), the Royal Australasian College of Medical Administrators (RACMA), the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP), the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RANZCOG), the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Ophthalmologists (RANZCO), and the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP), to map out a path towards emissions reduction in our sector, and to call on the Australian Government to do more.
We all have a role to play. The AMA and DEA recognise that the health sector needs to reduce its carbon emissions. However, at the national level only the federal government can provide the big-picture policies and framework necessary to address the significant adverse health impacts of climate change.
As doctors, we understand the imminent health threats posed by climate change and have seen them already emerge in Australia. The 2019-2020 bushfire season in Australia saw parts of country afflicted by the poorest air quality in the world, with large numbers of the population enduring weeks of bushfire smoke and the related adverse health impacts. That climate disaster also tragically took more than 30 lives as a direct result of the fires. Since then, we have seen the stark impacts of extreme weather events playing out in the northern hemisphere in 2021. Flooding, fires and heatwaves not only have immediate health risks, but also come with the longer-term physical, economic and mental impacts of displacement, loss of life and loss of livelihoods.
The health organisations listed below, representing Australian doctors, are jointly calling on the Australian Government to:
• Commit to an ambitious national plan to protect health by cutting Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions, aligned to science-based targets, this decade. Such a plan would include:
o policies that acknowledge the health benefits of renewable energy and accelerate the transition; and
o significantly increasing Australia’s Nationally Determined Contribution to the Paris Agreement at UN climate negotiations (COP26), in line with limiting global warming to 1.5°C.
- Develop a national climate change and health strategy to facilitate planning for future climate health impacts; and
- Establish a national Sustainable Healthcare Unit to support environmentally sustainable practice in healthcare and reduce the sector’s own significant emissions.
Medical specialist colleges are training the next generation of doctors who will be on the frontline of future climate crises. The AMA and DEA recognise the role medical colleges have to play in training a responsive, resilient and compassionate medical workforce, and the undersigned are joining our call for more substantial government action on climate change. The health, wellbeing and prosperity of our future generations depends on it.
Yours sincerely,
Dr Omar Khorshid AMA President
Dr Vanessa Beavis ANZCA President
Professor John Wilson AM RACP President
Vijay Roach RANZCOG President
Dr John Van Der Kallen DEA Chair
Dr Sarah Chalmers ACRRM President
Prof Alan Sandford RACMA President
Prof Nitin Verma RANZCO President
Dr John Bonning ACEM President
Dr Mary Pinder CICM President
Dr Karen Price RACGP President
A/Prof Vinay Lakra RANZCP President
“We MUST respect this earth - it is all we have
Claudio Dametto - South Australia
“I will always Vote to Preserve Our World.
Liam McGregor - Western Australia
“A simple message that even a politician can understand
Felicity Crombach - Victoria
“Please show you care about our future generations!!
Phil Harmer - New South Wales
“Save our world , Life & health before profits.
Kerry Lillian - New South Wales
“Close down all coal mines and Do not mine gas . Make these Companies
Daniel Johnson - New South Wales
“We want carbon free energy!
Edan Clarke - New South Wales
“Feels good to be taking a voter action step
Beaver Hudson - New South Wales
“Great Initiative. Let’s Hold elected officials Accountable to their bosses, us!
John Paul Posada - New South Wales
“We need actions not words we need honest democratic govt We need a pm
Bob Pearce - South Australia
“Thank you for this great resource. I was feeling helpless. Even this small step
Silvia Anderson - Victoria
“If political parties continue receiving political donations, we will rarely have politicians working for
Dan Chicos - New South Wales
“I only vote for people who will take urgent action to restore a safe
Susie Burke - Victoria
“Current government is not representing the opinion of the majority of Australian to meet
Neil Price - Tasmania
“We are fighting to rescue our kids' future from those who seek to steal
Vanessa Norimi - Queensland
“No time to waste Now or Never My vote is for NOW
Rosalie White - Victoria
“I am only 9 but I already care
Ava Bell - New South Wales
“From New Lambton Uniting Church - Caring for our world is a moral imperative.
Niall McKay - New South Wales
“Our federal govt is an International climate Embarrassment - its about time they stepped
Oriana Tolo - Victoria
“Vote earth this time!
Sue Cooke - Queensland
“We are in one on the wealthiest countries in the world. we have the
rowan huxtable - New South Wales
“The climate Emergency is the public health opportunity and urgent priority of the 21st
Mike Forrester - Victoria
“If they want my vote they better act now
Barbara McNiff - New South Wales
“We need to act locally now for the earth. Our only home. Vote Earth
Anne Miller - New South Wales
“I often look at the places I've known all my life and see how
Jim Baird - New South Wales
“Strike one For people power!!! Democracy might prevail outside the current cronyism that faces
Lorraine Bridger - New South Wales
“Our federal politicians Are Afraid to make action on climate change a major election
Jennifer Martin - New South Wales
“climate election, let's go!
Fahimah Badrulhisham - New South Wales
“Great to see this website that is a focus on action for climate change
Lynette Sinclair - New South Wales
“Let’s show politicians and the Murdoch media that climate change is by far the
Jane Aitken - Australian Capital Territory
“If you want to stay in power You need to take action to stop
Jane Bulter - New South Wales
“We are all that stands between terminal climate change and the vulnerable. We are
Carol Khan - Queensland
“We need a Government that Believes this is real and not taking money from
Ken Gray - New South Wales
“I'm voting for my childrens future
Anneliese Alexander - New South Wales