MEDICUS May 2022

I f we are to take the advice of the popular self-help writer Dr Stephen Covey, that is, to begin with the end in mind, we would be wise to envisage the world as a liveable, breathable, peaceful place and work backwards. This is truly what is at stake as the globe warms, propelling us toward more frequent natural disasters, declining food security, and as a result, a desperate situation for human health. Not only will floods and fires become regular occurrences, leaving less time for communities to recover in between, but food and water scarcities are likely to lead to unrest, displacement, and poverty. In Australia, there will be 20-70 per cent more days over 35 degrees, which even for Western Australians in the State’s south, means a good deal more than just discomfort and a higher electricity bill. It means increasing fire risk, sea level rises and declining biodiversity. For people above the 26 th parallel? Global warming will mean more intense cyclones that lead to flooding, which brings greater incidence of mosquito-borne viruses, isolation, blocked roads and therefore restricted access to food… this is just one example of what the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Report refers to as the cascading effects of climate change. According to Professor Kathryn Bowen, lead author of the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report Summary for Policy Makers, inequity and social justice are at the core of the climate challenges we face. “Climate change will exacerbate our current underlying health issues,” Prof Bowen said. “For communities that already face health issues, these are projected to get worse. That’s one reason that we need to incorporate diverse bodies of knowledge into our climate change planning, including Indigenous and local knowledge.” While climate change data is important, what we want, and what we need, is action. The AMA (WA) recently delivered its fourth quarterly forum on Climate Change and Health, in collaboration with Doctors for the Environment (WA), WA Health senior executives, the Health Department’s Sustainable Development Unit (SDU), and representatives from medical colleges. At the core of these meetings is the intent to reduce the carbon footprint of the health system – a footprint that currently represents 7 per cent of Australia’s overall carbon emissions. In WA, the health portfolio contributes the greatest proportion of carbon emissions of all portfolios. So how do we do it? What actions can we take as a health system? How do we know what’s working? These are the questions that keep the AMA (WA) forum’s membership up at night. Fortunately, WA has a group of dedicated, passionate doctors, administrators and health executives who are rising to the challenge. Dr Sallie Forrest, Medical Advisor to WA Health’s Sustainable Development Unit told Medicus that the objective of the unit was to lead and co-ordinate a systemwide response on climate action and sustainability across WA Health. “We have a ‘climate and health’ community of practice, which is a great group of frontline workers whose function is to directly feed back to system leaders and develop an avenue for networking, as well as a Sustainability Round Table, chaired by the Department,” Dr Forrest said. You can read more about the activities of the SDU on page 21 . In our journey towards net zero, it will be vital for WA to draw from examples across Australia and other international jurisdictions. Health systems around the world are adapting to new ways of thinking and acting to address climate change, one of the leaders being the UK’s National Health Service (NHS), whose goal is to reach net zero by 2040. Closer to home, New South Wales, like WA, has committed at a state level to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050. According to WA-trained Dr Kate Charlesworth, Senior Advisor at NSW Health’s Climate Risk & Net Zero Unit, the “metrics are critical”. “You can’t get to net zero unless you know what your carbon footprint is, or where your hotspots are. We’re going to be spending a fair bit of time in the next 6-12 months on exactly what our metrics are,” said Dr Charlesworth, who is also a medical consultant at Planetary Health, Northern Sydney Local Health District. To the envy of all present, she told the AMA (WA) forum in April that NSW Health has budgeted for 8 FTE positions to work on climate and health projects – a worthy target for the currently 1.3 FTE funded at WA Health! In our journey towards net zero, it will be vital for WA to draw from examples across Australia and other international jurisdictions. Health systems around the world are adapting to new ways of thinking and acting to address climate change, one of the leaders being the UK’s National Health Service (NHS), whose goal is to reach net zero by 2040. Continued on page 19. M AY 2 0 2 2 M E D I C U S 17 C O V E R S T O R Y – C L I M A T E C H A N G E A C T I O N