Earlier this week at COP28, Assistant Minister for Health and Aged Care, Ged Kearney, announced the launch of Australia’s first National Health and Climate Strategy. A Monash University expert is available to comment on why this strategy is so important.
Angie Bone, Associate Professor of Practice in Planetary Health, Monash Sustainable Development Institute
Contact details: +61 3 9903 4840 or media@monash.edu
- Climate change and human health - risks and opportunities
- Sustainable and resilient health systems
- Relevance of health at COP28
The following can be attributed to Associate Professor Bone:
“Many in the Australian health community have been calling for a national health and climate strategy, so it's terrific to see the first strategy of its kind in Australia launched at COP28 - the first COP to have a dedicated focus on the many links between climate change and health and the urgent need to take action to protect people's health across the world.
“The strategy sets out a national approach to four critical areas: health system resilience, health system decarbonisation, international collaboration, and integrating health considerations into climate-related policies in sectors beyond the health system, such as improving air quality and housing.
“The emphasis on the partnership with Australia's First Nations peoples recognises their unique connection and care for Country, and the value of a holistic understanding of health and wellbeing for all Australians. It's great to see Monash's Fire to Flourish program, which works with local communities affected by the 2019-20 bushfires to enable community-led resilience while addressing systemic disadvantage, highlighted as a case study in the strategy.
“The Department's willingness to consult widely has been very welcome, including with representatives from Monash University, and it's clear that much of that feedback has been incorporated in the final version. It should however be noted that the Strategy has not addressed the single most effective intervention to prevent climate change and the harm it causes to people's health: the phase out of fossil fuels.
“Given the urgency of emissions reduction and the need to be able to respond to climate change's impacts on health, we now need to rapidly turn the ambition of the strategy into action on the ground. The Monash community has a range of expertise to support that process, as underlined by the University's recently launched 'Health and Climate Initiative'.”
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About Monash University’s presence at COP28
Monash is deeply committed to urgent, collective action on climate change.
Our focus will be on sharing expertise, influencing policymakers and convening change makers in our shared pursuit of a more sustainable, just world for all.
The Monash University delegation will join the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference, COP28 in Dubai, UAE, from 30 November to 12 December 2023.
GENERAL MEDIA ENQUIRIES
A range of Monash University experts will be available to discuss climate related issues at COP28. Read more from them in our climate change special on Monash Lens.
Monash Media
T: +61 (0) 3 9903 4840
E: media@monash.edu
