On becoming a climate change advocate
I have known about climate change as long as I can remember. I never doubted the science as I waited patiently for society to fix the problem. I talked about it in small groups of friends and tweeted about it occasionally. I did what I could: cloth nappies for my children and solar panels on our home. I became flexitarian. I reduced our household waste and started composting. I learned about fast fashion, gave up Gorman (gasp!) and committed to second-hand, more self-made clothes. I calculated my carbon footprint and paid to offset it with a bit extra for good measure. In recent years, I tried to shield myself from talk of mass animal extinctions, and polar ice caps melting.
I was inspired by Greta Thunberg and the school strikes and thought everybody was on board. But I was living in a bubble, an echo chamber of my own ideologies. Eventually I had to face up to the truth: Australia’s and the world’s global emissions continue to rise, and our window for change is quickly disappearing. I despaired. Without drastic action, we will reach 4 degrees Celsius of global warming above pre-industrial times by the end of this century. I envisaged not only loss of biodiversity, sea level rise, increased natural disasters and food shortages, but global geopolitical unrest, and wars over shrinking resources.
I looked for reassurance, but unfortunately, every reliable source only confirmed my fears. I was crippled with eco-anxiety https://www.psychology.org.au/for-the-public/Psychology-topics/Climate-change-psychology. Where to from here? In the end it was simple, I must act. For my children, for my patients, for the beautiful world in which we live.
I started talking about climate change. A lot. It has taken me out of my comfort zone – it feels weird to talk about an issue which is so fundamental to humanity over lunch with friends. I hosted a Climate For Change conversation (think Tupperware party crossed with existential threat). I joined Citizens’ Climate Lobby, a global not-for-profit organisation promoting a carbon fee and dividend. I met with my local member of parliament. I joined Doctors for the Environment (how had I not known they existed? They have been doing great work for years!). I ended up in Canberra a couple of weeks ago lobbying politicians. I was privileged to witness the Doctors for the Environment #notimeforgames campaign finale on the grounds of parliament house which culminated in Zali Steggal’s motion in parliament. I was interviewed by our local paper following the recent bushfires and had an op-ed published. And of course, I attended the global climate strike (supported by a colleague who swapped my shift!).
As health professionals, we have a duty of care to our patients to be public health advocates. There is no greater threat to human health than climate change. And I firmly believe we have a valuable role as advocates in this area. As health professionals, we are respected. This has only been reinforced as I have started my journey, in conversations with friends, politicians and other activists. We have been here before. It’s amazing to think that our accepted current strict tobacco laws started from “activist” doctor action. We can have impact.
We need a global societal tipping point, before we reach ecological tipping points. So I urge you to join me. I realise not everybody wants to strike, not everybody is comfortable lobbying politicians or public speaking. But we can all play a part.
Here are some options:
For those who want to do more at home, there is the one million women movement with great tips on reducing your carbon footprint.
Divestment of money away from fossil fuels has already had a huge impact. I highly recommend you consult Market Forces, which compares where your superannuation fund is invested, as well as banks and insurance. It’s pretty easy to switch super funds and there are now a few which are marketed on ethical investments (and performing considerably well).
Donating
You can donate to charities which aim to offset your carbon footprint like Climate Neutral Charitable Fund or Greenfleet or even Bush Heritage.
You can donate to not-for-profits aiming to improve soil carbon like Carbon8 or Soil C Quest. These have huge potential to draw down carbon permanently.
You can donate to organisations which lobby such as Doctors for the Environment, Australian Youth Climate Coalition or Climate and Health Alliance.
If technology is your thing, make your next car electric. Donate to Climeworks, who are injecting carbon into stone in Iceland.
If you’re more interested in the humanitarian and feminist side, you can donate to charities which look to improve the status of women in the developing world such as One Girl, or Malala Fund.
Want to do more? There are so many options and it is easy to be overwhelmed. A word of warning, joining a group online does not generally result in a personalised invitation to action. I’ve found I needed to email saying I’d like to be involved, how can I start? You may want to focus on your local area, or health service, or ACEM. Or you may want to engage with the broader community and lobby at a federal level. Just don’t take on too much!
Most of all, start a conversation. Talk about climate change. Talk about how climate change impacts on public health. Talk about it with your colleagues, your friends and your neighbours. DEA has some fantastic fact sheets on climate change and health and related topics. Not sure how to bring it up? You could say you just read this awesome blog post…
