This article was first published on ABC Environment Online on 19th February 2013. Anyone holding onto the quaint notion that our elected representative govern in the interests of the community will see how false that is when they look at energy policy in Australia, writes Fiona Armstrong. Australia is currently in the middle of a coal rush. Coupled with the exploration of coal seam gas expanding at a rapid rate across Queensland and New South Wales, this looks (on paper)...

Australians have been sweltering this summer as extreme heat conditions are felt across many parts of the country. Health groups are urging people to take care in the heat, observe heat and fire warnings and to seek medical advice if they feel unwell. There is heat health advice available from each of the state and territory healthy departments (Victoria; NSW; Qld; SA; WA; NT; Tas; and ACT) as well as local healthcare providers to help reduce exposure and risks to...

Health Must Be Central to Climate Action The international health and medical community have developed a joint statement on climate health and wellbeing calling for health to be central to national and global climate action. Signatories include the World Medical Association, the International Council of Nurses, International Federation of Medical Students, Health Care Without Harm, Climate and Health Alliance, European Public Health Association, Public Health Association of Australia, Royal College of General Practitioners (UK), Climate and Health Council, OraTaiao: The...

The Climate and Health Alliance is involved in THREE events at the 2013 Melbourne Sustainable Living Festival: Climate and Health Clinic - all weekend Saturday 16th and Sunday 17th February Roving ˜health promoters' will help people develop their own individualised ˜prescriptions for a healthy life and a health planet'. The clinic and ˜prescriptions' provide opportunities for people to learn about sustainable lifestyles are healthy lifestyles and how cutting emissions can improve health. Some strategies people can choose for their own...

The Climate and Health Alliance is particularly concerned about the health and well-being of children in relation to climate change. Children are particularly vulnerable to the negative effects of climate change and suffer around 90% of the disease burden from climate change. As part of its advocacy efforts, along with child health researchers and child advocates the Climate and Health Alliance has written a letter to child advocates and research institutions, asking that they include climate change as an urgent...

The proposal for a fourth coal terminal at Newcastle has united local residents in a joint effort to protect community and workers' health. Community members are deeply concerned about the impact of coal dust from the proposed terminal. Health experts visited the city earlier this year to talk about the danger of coal dust. Between 1984 and 2012 coal exports from Newcastle increased ten-fold from 21 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa) to 210 Mtpa. The proposed fourth terminal (T4) would...

The international health and medical community have developed a joint statement on climate health and wellbeing calling for health to be central to climate action during the COP18 international climate change negotiations in Doha, Qatar. Signatories to the Doha Declaration for Climate, Health and Wellbeing include the World Medical Association, the International Council of Nurses, International Federation of Medical Students, Health Care Without Harm, European Public Health Association, Royal College of General Practitioners (UK), Climate and Health Council, OraTaiao: The...

In November, along with international partner Health Care Without Harm, CAHA joined 24 Hours of Reality: The Dirty Weather Report. Broadcast live on the Internet, this event was viewed by more than 15 million people around. Health Care Without Harm founder and President Gary Cohen joined a panel Al Gore in New York to talk about the role of sustainable healthcare in addressing some of the world's climate and environmental challenges. CAHA Convenor Fiona Armstrong joined climate scientist Professor David...

Getting policy traction: The 2012 Climate and Health Alliance report Our Uncashed Dividend produced in partnership with The Climate Institute has hit a chord with media, community, and policymakers. It was released in 2012 to widespread media coverage, has been the subject of many invited presentations, and has stimulated and informed the first ever submission from the Australian Government on health to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change process occurring in October 2012, written following a meeting with...

By Brad Farrant, University of Western Australia, Fiona Armstrong, Climate and Health Alliance, and Glenn Albrecht, Murdoch University Climate change has been widely recognised by leading public health organisations and prestigious peer reviewed journals as the the biggest global health threat of the 21st century. A recently released report, commissioned by 20 of the most vulnerable countries, highlights the size of the threat: climate change is already responsible for 400,000 deaths annually, mostly from hunger and communicable disease. And our...