Climate action for rural doctors
Tracks
Waterfront Room 1
| Friday, October 25, 2024 |
| 2:10 PM - 3:15 PM |
| Waterfront Room 1 |
Details
Stream: BUILD UP HEALTH ECOLOGIES: Exploring the Interplay of Climate, Health, and Sustainable Practices in Rural
Speaker
Dr Rob Phair
Rural Generalist
Rural Doctors Association of Victoria
Climate action for rural doctors
Abstract Overview
Climate change poses an existential threat to rural and remote communities in Australia, across the Pacific, and worldwide.The projected health impacts have been extensively documented.
The single most important action we can take is to phase out fossil fuel use as quickly as possible.
The Australian Government has been slow to act by world standards, and continues to approve significant new fossil fuel projects. It has just produced a Future Gas Strategy committing to new fossil gas projects fueling demand 'to 2050 and beyond'.
These policies will contribute to worsening climate change, and pose a significant risk to the health and wellbeing of rural Australians.
Rural doctors have a critical advocacy role which should include evidence based political action.
The single most important action we can take is to phase out fossil fuel use as quickly as possible.
The Australian Government has been slow to act by world standards, and continues to approve significant new fossil fuel projects. It has just produced a Future Gas Strategy committing to new fossil gas projects fueling demand 'to 2050 and beyond'.
These policies will contribute to worsening climate change, and pose a significant risk to the health and wellbeing of rural Australians.
Rural doctors have a critical advocacy role which should include evidence based political action.
Biography
Dr Rob Phair is a rural generalist doctor working on Gunaikurnai country in Eastern Victoria.
Before studying medicine, he was a linguist who worked in outdoor education and as a tour guide in Russia and Central Asia.
He is the Immediate Past President of Rural Doctors Association Victoria and has a strong interest in health advocacy and the politics of rural health.
His health advocacy interests include climate action, active transport (especially cycling) and air pollution.
Dr Mark de Souza
Royal Darwin and Palmerston Regional Hospital
Co-presenter
Biography
Mark is an emergency physician at Royal Darwin Hospital and a member of the SustainHealth Special Interest Group of Doctors for the Environment.
He has been advocating since 2019 for NT Health to implement policy in climate adaptation and waste and emissions mitigation. He initiated and has chaired the Sustainable Healthcare Committee for NT Health since 2021, which successfully campaigned for the Northern Territory to recruit its first Director of Sustainability Action in 2023.
His focus has since shifted to climate adaptation and wellbeing in the healthcare sector. He initiated the volunteer-driven Royal Darwin Hospital Campus Greening Project that provides staff and patients access to restorative, climate-adapted green spaces, and was recognized for this work with the NT Landcare 2023/2024 Australian Government Climate Innovation Award. The pillars of the greening project were included in the design brief for the 2024 Royal Darwin Hospital Landscape Masterplan. He has now embarked on a PhD through the University of Melbourne to explore pathways connecting biodiversity and health in healthcare settings.
Louise Woodward
Darwin Children's Clinic
Co-presenter
Biography
Dr Louise Woodward is a Northern Territory paediatrician living in Darwin who has been concerned about the continued expansion of the gas industry in the NT despite the known risks to human health and the climate. She has been using her voice and expertise as a doctor to raise the alarm about the direct health impacts of gas extraction using case studies of specific projects, such as the Middle Arm project and Beetaloo fracking in order to educate the community and influence decision makers.
Her environmental advocacy has been in partnership with local indigenous leaders, pairing scientific evidence with indigenous knowledge in order to highlight the important and intricate relationship between health and country.
