Clinical psychologist Lucy McLean and journalist Shanti Mathias both attended the youth-led Global Climate Strike on 3 March 2023. They spoke with an Auckland high schooler, a spokesperson for Fridays for Future, a university student and also with counsellor and OraTaiao Executive Board member Silvia Purdie. The resulting article explains how action to mitigate the climate crisis can also help improve mental health. Read it here. 

The health sector is the largest emitter of carbon emissions in the public sector. At Te Whatu Ora Southern, 58.6 percent of those emissions come from coal burnt at Dunedin and Invercargill hospitals. As reported in this news article, Dr Matt Jenks and Dr Dermot Coffey of OraTaiao are pushing for a phase-out of coal boilers at our hospitals. Read the article here. 

By Olivia Wannan for Stuff 05:00, Jun 15 2022

Photo: MONIQUE FORD/STUFF

Summer Wright (Ngāti Maniapoto, Pākehā) is a dietician undertaking her PhD at Massey University, investigating the opportunities for Māori businesses in plant-based kai. She is also a co-convenor for climate action and health advocacy group OraTaiao.

Continue reading here

Article on the climate harming emissions produced by international travel in the health sector, with comments from OraTaiao Co-convenor Dr Dermot Coffey. Read here. 

Article on the impacts of climate change on vulnerable communities and the need to factor equity into solutions and elevate mātauranga Māori knowledge, with quotes from OraTaiao Co-convenor Dr Dermot Coffey. Read here.

Interview with OraTaiao Co-convenor Dr Dermot Coffey on health sector emissions, and the need for a sustainability unit in the new health agencies. Read here (subscribers only).

Article on the health and climate impacts of cooking with gas stoves, includes comments from OraTaiao Co-convenor Dr Dermot Coffey. Read here.

Article about the results of the UN Climate Change Conference COP26, including comment from OraTaiao Co-convenor Dr Dermot Coffey. Read here.

Ngā Pae o te Maramatanga, the Māori centre of research excellence, has published a major report on the impact of climate change on Māori communities to coincide with the Cop26 conference. An open letter from OraTaiao, the New Zealand Climate and Health Council, last week called for Jacinda Ardern to “proactively place Indigenous and marginalised voices at the centre of Cop26”. Read here

Article about NZ government's weak response to the climate crisis, includes interview with OraTaiao Co-convenor Dr Dermot Coffey. Read here.