Australia is set to join a global initiative to track progress on health and climate change
When it comes to climate change and human health, Australia has, in many respects, an impressive track record. The late Professor Tony McMichael led the international community in research and advocacy on this issue.1,2 In 2016, the Royal Australasian College of Physicians Climate Change and Health Working Party released position statements on climate change and health and the health benefits of mitigating climate change.3,4 Scientific articles on Australian health and climate change have been published since the mid-1990s, including in the MJA.5
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- 1. McMichael AJ, Ando M, Carcavallo R, et al. Human population health. In: Watson RT, Zinyowera MC, Moss RH, Dokken DJ, editors. Climate change 1995: impacts, adaptations and mitigation of climate change: scientific-technical analyses. Contribution of Working Group II to the Second Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996.
- 2. McMichael A, Githeko A, Akhtar R, et al. Human health. In: McCarthy JJ, Canziani OF, Leary NA, et al, editors. Climate change 2001: impacts, adaptation, and vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II to the Third Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001.
- 3. Royal Australasian College of Physicians. Climate change and health: position statement. Sydney: RACP, 2016.
- 4. Royal Australasian College of Physicians. The health benefits of mitigating climate change: position statement. Sydney: RACP, 2016.
- 5. Jackson EK. Climate change and global infectious disease threats. Med J Aust 1995; 163: 570-574.
- 6. Beggs PJ, editor. Impacts of climate change on allergens and allergic diseases. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2016.
- 7. Costello A, Abbas M, Allen A, et al. Managing the health effects of climate change: Lancet and University College London Institute for Global Health Commission. Lancet 2009; 373: 1693-1733.
- 8. Watts N, Adger WN, Agnolucci P, et al. Health and climate change: policy responses to protect public health. Lancet 2015; 386: 1861-1914.
- 9. Watts N, Amann M, Ayeb-Karlsson S, et al. The Lancet Countdown on health and climate change: from 25 years of inaction to a global transformation for public health. Lancet 2018; 391: 581-630.
- 10. United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The Paris Agreement. http://unfccc.int/paris_agreement/items/9485.php (viewed Dec 2017).
- 11. International Energy Agency. IEA Atlas of Energy: CO2 Emissions from Fuel Combustion. http://energyatlas.iea.org/#!/tellmap/1378539487/4 (viewed Feb 2018).
We acknowledge the current team members who are developing the Australian countdown report.
No relevant disclosures.