Australian climate change initiatives stalling amid growing health fears: Report

A new report is calling for urgent action to tackle the risks to human health posed by climate change. The report, written by Australian researchers and partner institutions of the 2019 MJA–Lancet Countdown report, was published today in the Medical Journal of Australia (MJA). It found that, while some progress had been made in renewable energy generation (including substantial employment increases in the sector both at state and local government sectors), “there continues to be no engagement on health and climate change at the federal level”. “Health impacts of climate change include heat illness, asthma, heart disease, injuries, mosquito-borne diseases and diarrhoea. Climate change has even been linked to depression,” Professor Tony Capon, director of the Monash Sustainable Development Institute and senior author of the report said. “The bushfires currently devastating the nation’s eastern seaboard signal the need for urgent action. “Human health will improve as we pursue pathways to net zero emissions. Cleaner air, healthier diets and safer, more walkable cities will benefit our physical and mental health, and yield increases in worker productivity and savings in healthcare costs.” Key findings The report outlines the extensive consequences of climate change and highlights what a child born today can expect in terms of long-term consequences as temperatures continue to rise, and the world retains a “business-as-usual approach”. The study also found that, as temperatures rise, infants will be vulnerable to malnutrition and rising food costs due to droughts and market forces. The average yield of wheat, which is the major crop for Australia in winter, has declined five per cent since the 1960s. The study also concluded that children born today will suffer from a rise in infectious diseases. Indeed, 2018 was the “second-most suitable year” for bacteria outbreaks that manifest in diarrhoeal disease and infected wounds. The situation continues to deteriorate as the children born today move into adolescence. Australia’s lucrative coal trade to other countries looks set to continue and the “carbon intensity” of our electricity generation is disturbingly high, with coal accounting for rough 65 per cent of our use. Unless a quick turnaround occurs by the time these children reach adulthood, they can expect maximum summer temperatures that are 1.66 per cent warmer than 20 years ago, “with the heat and intensity of the heatwaves increasing by a third, increasing the dangers to human health and a potential 1.35 million additional hours of work lost due to extreme heat in 2018 compared to 2000". The report’s researchers contend that limiting global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius – as per the Paris Agreement – could allow a child born today to live in a zero-emissions world by the time they are 31 and provide the foundations for a more liveable planet for centuries to come. The report analysed climate change progress and human health in Australia across 31 indicators, encompassing five domains: climate change impacts, adaptation, exposures and vulnerability; planning for resilience and health; mitigating actions and health co-benefits; finance and economics; and public and political engagement. One of the new indicators introduced this year was the effect of climate change on wildlife exposure, while the corporate sector’s engagement in health and climate change was also examined. The author who led section one of the report, focusing om climate change impacts, exposures and vulnerability, Associate Professor Yuming Guo from the School of Public Health and Preventative Medicine, said increases in heat are the number-one climate change related health problem facing Australia, and there is no relief in sight. “Despite uncertainties created by the large variability in daily and seasonal temperatures, there’s been a striking upward trend in the rate of increase in maximum temperatures over the past two decades,” Guo said. “Large increases in heatwave intensity are also evident over the same period, with consequent risks for health, particularly among people experiencing underlying vulnerability and disadvantage. “Additionally, hot years in terms of both maximum and minimum annual temperatures continued to be associated with higher suicide rates." Guo found there was little evidence to suggest that Australia is “acting effectively” in mitigating these heat-related threats for both physical and mental health, a fact that worries him given the growing population. While Australia was the only country to complete its national countdown assessment report in 2018, the report found that policy inaction was threatening Australian lives. The report also concluded that across many of the indicators Australia was performing poorly in comparison with other developed countries. The dire situation outlined in the report has spurred the authors to make climate change and health impacts a priority at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in December, The full report, entitled The 2019 report of The Lancet Countdown on health and climate change: ensuring that the health of a child born today's not defined by a changing climate appeared in the November edition of The Lancet and can be accessed here.