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Doctors disappointed by new climate change target
Medical professionals say the impact of climate change on health has been largely ignored in this week’s announcement.
‘Meeting the challenges of climate change is the most important health intervention our government can take, but it has failed to deliver on that responsibility.’
The Federal Government’s 2035 emissions reduction target released this week has been met with disappointment from doctors, who say it hasn’t gone far enough to protect the health of Australians.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced Australia’s 2035 climate change target will aim for a 62–70% reduction on 2005 emissions.
He said this ‘ambitious but achievable’ target sets the right investment signal, responds to science and delivers a practical plan.
The target range will be achieved through actions across five priority areas:
- Boosting clean electricity
- Support for energy-efficient electric vehicles
- Expanding clean fuel use
- Accelerating new technologies
- Scaling up net carbon removals
But medical professionals have criticised the lack of focus on health, with Doctors for the Environment Australia (DEA) saying the target fails to meet the scale of the problem and puts communities at risk.
‘Meeting the challenges of climate change is the most important health intervention our Government can take, but today it has failed to deliver on that responsibility,’ DEA Executive Director Dr Kate Wylie said.
‘This target of 62–70% by 2035 is not enough to protect the health of Australians nor that of the environment upon which we all depend.
‘Climate change is an immediate and direct threat, which is why health and medical groups in Australia and around the world see it as a climate health emergency.’
RACGP Specific Interests Climate and Environmental Medicine Chair, Dr Catherine Pendrey, said the emissions target is a step in the right direction but falls well short of what’s needed.
‘Climate change paints a grim picture for health in Australia and around the world, and the Government’s target is disappointing because it doesn’t do enough to reduce emissions and avoid the worst impacts of climate change on health,’ she told
newsGP.
‘Australia really does need to show global leadership, and that would mean aiming for net zero as soon as possible, and setting a target as close to net zero as possible by 2035.’
Without adequate action, patients and doctors will be left facing the health consequences of climate change, Dr Pendrey warned.
‘We’ve got GPs around Australia who have been on the frontline responding to bush fires and floods made more severe and more frequent by climate change, and we know that is only going to continue to get worse,’ she said.
‘On top of extreme weather events, which are often the more visible impacts of climate change, there are other impacts occurring that can be at least as significant.
‘We know that more deaths occur from extreme heat events than all other extreme weather events combined in Australia, but they’re often not recognised as being due to extreme heat.
‘Another impact that we’ve already seen in Australia is increased transmission of some quite scary mosquito-borne diseases such as Japanese encephalitis, which before the last few years, was hardly seen in Australia.
‘We’re definitely already seeing the impact and we know they’re going to get worse.’
DEA Chair Professor Nick Talley added that while the Government has acknowledged climate change is a big problem, it continues to support fossil fuel projects that are the main drivers of climate pollution.
‘As a doctor, this double standard would be akin to me treating a patient’s COPD with puffers and oxygen, whilst still strongly encouraging them to smoke tobacco,’ he said.
‘Such behaviour would be contrary to the principles of proper patient care and is unethical.’
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