JOINT MEDIA STATEMENT – OraTaiao, RACP, NZMA, Health Promotion Forum of NZ, 25 March 2021

Health organisations have written to Climate Change Minister James Shaw asking him to appoint a public health expert to the Climate Change Commission to ensure Aotearoa improves health as well as reducing greenhouse gas emissions. 

MEDIA STATEMENT, 3 December 2020

Evidence from the latest Lancet Countdown report show that climate change induced shocks such as wildfires and heat waves are claiming lives now and unless urgent action is taken then health impacts will worsen, so it is timely our government has just declared a climate emergency, said Dr Dermot Coffey, Co-convenor, OraTaiao: NZ Climate and Health Council.

MEDIA STATEMENT, 9 October 2020

Following the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) announcement that it will commit to net zero carbon emissions by 2040, NZ health professionals are asking the NZ Government to require emissions reductions in our health sector in Aotearoa NZ.

MEDIA RELEASE, 28 September 2020

Health professionals have expressed surprise at the silence around this century’s biggest population health threat in the 2020 general election.

“We have found that even some of our major parties have either no plans on what to do about climate change or have ones which are actively harmful. Having no good climate policy today is a bit like having no public health policy during a pandemic,” said Dr Dermot Coffey, Co-convenor of OraTaiao: NZ Climate & Health Council, on releasing an election scorecard today. 

MEDIA RELEASE, 3 May 2020

Leading NZ health professional organisations have written to the Government asking them to prioritise Budget 2020 funding for a just transition to a climate-resilient, sustainable and low-emissions economy.

The letter, led by OraTaiao: NZ Climate & Health Council, was sent to the Minister and Associate Ministers of Finance on Sunday 3 May, and urges the Government to heed health advice that has for many years been warning of the serious health threat posed by the climate crisis.

MEDIA STATEMENT, 15 April 2020

Health professionals are calling for the government’s economic stimulus to do triple duty for people, planet and prosperity.

“We can’t return to business as usual. We need a new framework to guide public investment. As the Government invests to get the economy going after lockdown we must ensure this public money is well spent and has a long term benefit for people, planet and prosperity,” said Dr. Alex Macmillan, Co-convenor, OraTaiao: NZ Climate & Health Council.

MEDIA STATEMENT, 30 January 2020

The Government’s announcement that it is committed to prioritising ending coal-burning for schools and hospitals is welcomed by health workers who have long been calling for such a move.

MEDIA STATEMENT, 18 December 2019

The newly appointed climate change commission is an important step towards New Zealand being able to put the necessary policies in place to protect our health and wellbeing from climate change, but it lacks the full expertise to bring about the transformative change that New Zealand needs to meet its climate change commitments to ensure our safety and well-being into the future, according to Dr Alexandra Macmillan, Co-convenor, OraTaiao: NZ Climate and Health Council.

MEDIA RELEASE, 28 November 2019

The Royal New Zealand College of General Practioners has made a formal commitment to confront the health effects of climate change and has signed the 'Health Professionals Joint Call for Action on Climate Change and Health'.  

MEDIA STATEMENT, 7 November 2019

Health professionals are celebrating the historic passing of the Zero Carbon Act. They applaud its purpose to prevent global warming of more than 1.5 degrees and the inclusion of methane targets. 

“This Act is a crucial piece of legislation for health and wellbeing. It lays the foundations for realising the exciting opportunities that climate action can bring for health and fairness,” says Dr Rhys Jones, Co-convenor of OraTaiao: The NZ Climate and Health Council.