Phasing out coal in schools and hospitals a win-win for health and the climate
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.
Read more >Stuff: Plant-based diets a 'win-win' for health, reducing greenhouse gas emissions - study
Article on the emissions reductions, health benefits, and health cost savings which could be achieved from NZ moving to a plant-based diet, with comments from OraTaiao Co-convenor Dr Alexandra Macmillan.
Read here.
NZ Herald: Plant-based diet: The case to help slash emissions and save billions
Article on the the emissions reductions, health benefits, and health cost savings which could be achieved from NZ moving to a plant-based diet, with comments from study author and OraTaiao member, Jono Drew and OraTaiao Co-convenor, Dr Alexandra Macmillan.
Read here.
Healthy and Climate-Friendly Eating Patterns in the New Zealand Context
Article in Environmental Health Perspectives by OraTaiao member Jono Drew with OraTaiao Co-convenor Dr Alexandra Macmillan and Anja Mizdrak, concluding that the consumption of whole, plant-based foods offer an opportunity to achieve substantial emissions reductions while simultaneously realising considerable health gains and health system cost savings.
Read here.
Emissions Trading Reform
OraTaiao submission, 17 January 2020
It is encouraging to see a cap on emissions units, a sinking lid mechanism and the phasing out of industrial allocation of free units incorporated into the draft Climate Change Response (Emissions Trading Reform) Amendment Bill.
"We remain concerned however about the ongoing delay in integration of agriculture into the Emissions Trading Scheme, the slow phase down of free units to industry and the lack of a mechanism to recycle revenue from the sale of New Zealand Units to support a low carbon transition for those most likely to be impacted by the changes - low income, Māori and Pacific households."
Read full submission here (PDF). This submission is endorsed by the New Zealand Medical Association, Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa / New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO), the Public Health Association of New Zealand, and the New Zealand College of Public Health Medicine.
Newly appointed climate change commission a crucial step with major expertise gap
MEDIA STATEMENT
28 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.
Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission Bill
OraTaiao submission, 11 December 2019
"The significance of climate disruption for the mental health and well-being of those alive today and for future generations simply cannot be ignored. A focus on the climate crisis thus needs to be highlighted in legislation defining the Commission’s role."
Read full submission here.
Should health professionals participate in civil disobedience in response to the climate change health emergency?
Article in The Lancet by OraTaiao members Dr Hayley Bennet, Dr Alexandra Macmillan, Dr Rhys Jones, and Dr Alison Blaiklock with Prof John Mcmillan. In this article a framework is applied to guide decision making by considering whether climate change justifies civil disobedience by health professionals as part of a duty of care.
Read here (PDF).
Climate medicine: our changing climate and health inequity in New Zealand
Article in the New Zealand Medical Students Journal by exec board member Cameron Toogood on how the impacts of climate change will both exacerbate current inequities of health and generate new ones, and the need for region specific information.
Read here.
Sustainable Healthcare Forum Aotearoa and Climate Change & Health Conference 2020
Save the date! The next Sustainable Healthcare Forum Aotearoa, and a new Climate Change & Health Conference, will be held in Wellington, New Zealand, from 16-17 June 2020. We are proud to announce the keynote speaker will be Dr David Pencheon, former Director of the NHS Sustainable Development Unit. Announcements and further details about registration will follow.
Read more >