It is the Alliance’s position that climate change poses a significant and enduring threat to health in the 21st century.
A national commitment to the climate and health policy agenda is urgently required to protect human and environmental health from the current and future impacts of climate change in rural, regional and remote Australia. This is necessary to ensure these communities and their ecosystems—essential for food, fibre, biodiversity, clean air and water—remain safe, liveable, thriving and positively able to provide a sustainable future for all.
All Australian governments urgently need to escalate implementation of broad-ranging mitigation strategies to reduce carbon emissions. Specific strategies are necessary to assist rural, regional and remote communities to adapt to the changing climate and transition to sustainable practices that: • support and safeguard local economies and social capital, in both the short and long term • establish emergency responses, particularly for the management of heat and other extreme weather events, water scarcity and water quality • promote positive mental health and wellbeing, community capacity building and resilience.
The Alliance, as a peak national body, commits to efforts to reduce the organisation’s carbon footprint, and to promote and advocate for mitigation and adaptation strategies in rural health care settings and communities.