It is the National Rural Health Alliance’s (the Alliance) 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: