CAHA Vice President Dr Peter Sainsbury is in Paris attending many of the side events accompanying the UNFCCC COP21 global climate change talks. He shares some reflections here on the process, stimulated by a presentation by UNFCCC Executive Secretary Christiana Figures to one of these side events. "At the beginning of the second week of the COP21 negotiations in Paris, Executive Secretary of the UNFCC, Christiana Figueres, addressed a group of philanthropic funders. I was fortunate enough to be...

  Grace Fitzgerald gave this incredible speech at the Melbourne People's Climate March: "Two weeks ago, meteorologists announced that in 2015, global warming would for the first time pass one degree above pre-industrial levels. For a young person who has grown up in the knowledge that my future is inextricable from the climate around me, that landmark is terrifying. From a young age, I have ben told that two degrees of global warming presents a boundary beyond which the safety...

A report from the ˜Environmentally sustainable practice in hospitals and community settings' seminar 15 May 2015 Janet Roden, Professional Officer in the NSW Nurses and Midwives Association (NSWN&MA), and Peter Sainsbury, Director of Population Health in South Western Sydney Local Health District, met in 2014 on a Global Green and Healthy Hospitals webinar organised by CAHA Convenor Fiona Armstrong. Out of that meeting the two of them organised an ˜Environmental Health Seminar' attended by 50 health professionals at Liverpool Hospital...

What does the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report mean for health in Australia? This post first appeared on the blog Croakey on 31 March 2014 A new report from the IPCC issues the world one of its most stark warnings on climate change to date. Leaked drafts suggest this report will be one of the IPCC's most stark warnings yet issued on climate change, especially as it relates to human health. Authors of the health chapter say...

Street based campaigning to engage people in climate action can be challenging, and sometimes campaigners wonder if it's worth it! People don't always want to engage directly, and for some members of the community, hearing about climate change is confronting and so they would rather not talk about it “ or even accept a flyer about a climate-related event. But every little interaction like this is a building block for further interaction and can help in providing an opening for...

A big shout out to the wonderful health promotion practitioners and students who participated in the Climate and Health Alliance's initiative at the Melbourne Sustainable Living Festival for the second year in 2013. Here, volunteer Sally talks about what they got up to and what the Climate and Health Clinic is about. http://vimeo.com/63054314

An exciting project is evolving... The Climate and Health Alliance recently had the opportunity to crowdsource ideas for a new publication in the New News Incubator at the Melbourne Writers' Festival event. Guided by Daniel May, Fiona Armstrong, Paul Ramadge, and Bronwen Clune, this workshop worked to develop an idea to create a new online publication in the area of climate and health “ from scratch! Participants helped build the publication's identity, sketch out a community development strategy, a business...

We're very excited about our upcoming workshop at the Population Health Congress in Adelaide on 9th September. We'll be really giving our brains a workout as we think about how to transform Australia, and society for that matter, to more sustainable, healthier ways of living. Sunday 9th September - Pre-conference Workshop, Population Health Congress, Adelaide Convention Centre This workshop will bring together some of the thinking that is emerging around the world that recognises that as a species, we are...

If you don't understand habits, how can you hope to change them? The challenges and opportunities of habits to encourage sustainable living A seminar with Professor Bas Verplanken, University of Bath, England In this seminar, one of the world's leading experts on habits”Professor Bas Verplanken”will discuss the importance of understanding habits when developing interventions to influence behaviour (with a particular focus on environmental sustainability). He will highlight how habits can be measured, broken and created, and will offer guidance on...

CAHA ran its first ever 'pop-up' Climate and Health Clinic at the 2012 Sustainable Living Festival. Here, CAHA Convenor Fiona Armstrong talks about the clinic, about the roving health promoters, and what it means to get a 'prescription for a healthy planet and a healthy you'. https://vimeo.com/37793910