Medical Leaders call for urgent and meaningful action on climate change

RACMA has signed an open letter to the Australian Prime Minister along with the Australian Medical Association (AMA), Doctors for the Environment Australia (DEA) and nine other Specialist Medical Colleges.

The letter states that the AMA and DEA, together with the 10 Specialist Medical Colleges, are coming together to map out a path towards emissions reduction in our sector, and to call on the Australian Government to do more.

The organisations are jointly calling on the Australian Government to:

• Commit to an ambitious national plan to protect health by cutting Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions, aligned to science-based targets, this decade. Such a plan would include:

o policies that acknowledge the health benefits of renewable energy and accelerate the transition; and

o significantly increasing Australia’s Nationally Determined Contribution to the Paris Agreement at UN climate negotiations (COP26), in line with limiting global warming to 1.5°C.

• Develop a national climate change and health strategy to facilitate planning for future climate health impacts; and

• Establish a national Sustainable Healthcare Unit to support environmentally sustainable practice in healthcare and reduce the sector’s own significant emissions.

The other colleges to sign the open letter are:

• the Australasian College of Emergency Medicine (ACEM)
• the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists (ANZCA)
• the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine (ACRRM)
• the College of Intensive Care Medicine of Australia and New Zealand (CICM)
• the Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP)
• the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP)
• the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RANZCOG)
• the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Ophthalmologists (RANZCO)
• the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP)

To read the full letter please click HERE.