In the same week that Australia co-signed a global action plan to minimise the impact of climate change on health systems, doctors are warning that federal government environment reforms do not go far enough.
The federal government has officially endorsed an international framework to help countries strengthen their health systems in response to climate change at the UN’s annual climate conference, even as Australian doctors criticise the Albanese administration’s record on climate health.
Developed by the Brazilian Ministry of Health for COP30, the Belém Health Action Plan for the adaptation of the health sector to climate change recognises “an urgent need to foster collective action and strengthen governance mechanisms so that health systems are equipped to prevent, detect, and respond to the growing challenges posed by climate change”.
More specifically, it asks co-signatories to strengthen health systems by doing things like identifying a priority list of climate-related risks and diseases, integrating mental health into climate adaptation plans, creating strategic stockpiles of health products and strengthening emergency health response plans for climate-related disasters.
This last may be of particular interest to doctors in rural and regional Australia, where climate-related events like floods and bushfires have become more frequent and more devastating over recent years.
A specific step recommended under the banner of emergency health planning include promoting “equitable workforce distribution and retention policies, supported by mechanisms to address health workforce shortages, striving for continuous service provision during climate-related emergencies, with particular attention to vulnerable regions”.
Health Minister Mark Butler acknowledged that climate change is already impacting the health sector.
Reporting, monitoring and follow up – i.e. measuring whether any of the co-signing countries actually stick to the plan – is voluntary. Each country will self-report on its compliance and progress.
“The Albanese Government is acting to make sure our health system is ready to protect communities from climate-related risks,” he said.
“By endorsing the Belém Health Action Plan, we are committing to practical steps that prepare our health system for climate impacts while reducing its environmental footprint.”
At the same time, the federal government is expected to progress the Environment Protection Reform Bill this week, which will establish a definition of “unacceptable impacts on nationally protected matters” and national environmental standards.
Unacceptable impacts, the bill’s explanatory memorandum said, “ensures robust environmental protections under the law while increasing transparency and certainty about what actions are likely to be approved”.
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According to Doctors for the Environment Australia, though, the proposed definition of “unacceptable impacts” does not include human health effects.
“This effectively allows the Environment Minister, Senator Murray Watt, to approve a proposal without assessing the risk it poses to public health,” the group said.
DEA executive director Dr Kate Wylie, a GP in Adelaide, questioned how a project that could potentially lead to deaths could be deemed acceptable.
“Just like every cigarette is doing us damage, every tonne of carbon added to the atmosphere damages us too,” Dr Wylie said.
“And just as medical professionals called out the health harms of tobacco which led to comprehensive regulation, we are now calling for regulation of fossil fuels.
“Clean air, clean water, healthy soils capable of producing nutritious food, shelter and a stable climate are fundamental to the health of us all.”
The DEA has also urged the government to mandate comprehensive human health impact assessments for all major projects, explicitly incorporating the health effects of climate change and the cumulative health burdens on affected communities.
