April 27, 2022 - DEA deputy Chair Dr Kimberly Humphrey said that a recent Australia Institute survey showed that fossil fuels were costing Australia $22,000 per minute. Subsidies for fossil fuels noted in the AI survey showed that the cost of $11.6 billion in 2021-22 was across federal, state and territory governments.
Our Work
Human health depends upon a healthy environment.
The current age of scientific innovation has meant humans have become a dominant influence in shaping the natural world. This has raised the stakes and meant an unprecedented capacity to degrade our natural environment.
While great progress has been made in improving human health, particular in Australia and other OECD countries, local and global environmental degradation now threaten those gains.
DEA urges governments to address the current and future impacts of environmental degradation on human health.
Doctors for the Environment Australia (DEA) is an organisation of doctors who recognise that human health and wellbeing require an environment:
- free of pollution
- capable of providing nutritious food
- rich in biodiversity
- able to provide for current and future generations sustainably.
Hope is not a method – we must act now to decarbonise the health sector
April 21, 2022 - Are we able to reimagine a world where clean air, water and food are available to all? Where economies are focused on health and well-being? Where cities are liveable and ...
DEA: All Electric Hospital Guide
March 24, 2022 - DEA’s sustainable health care Special Interest Group (SIG) have released a new guide for medical practitioners. ‘Building the next zero hospital to be net zero carbon emissions (all-electric): A six ...
Dr Carolyn Orr for TEDxUWA: End fossil fuels to protect human health
March 23, 2022 - Perth neurologist and DEA member Dr Carolyn Orr is a fearless and inspiring campaigner and public speaker, and a powerful advocate against fossil fuels in the interest of human health. ...
Dr Richard Yin: People ask about the cost of action. We should also be asking, what is the cost of inaction of climate change.
March 7, 2022 - The science is very clear that climate change is being caused by fossil fuel combustion. It is also very clear that this will have enormous health impacts both locally and globally.
Submission to the public exhibition of the NSW Design and Place SEPP, and the Apartment Design Guide Feb 2022
March 3, 2022 - Doctors for the Environment Australia recently welcomed the opportunity to provide a submission to the NSW government on the health aspects of a revision of a State Environmental Planning Policy ...
Dr Kate Charlesworth: The IPCC report is a stark warning for Australia’s leaders with their current emissions trajectory
March 1, 2022 - Public health physician and DEA member Dr Kate Charlesworth commented on the recently released IPCC report in a Channel 7 News report. Conservation groups say the latest global report by ...
AMA and DEA outline plan to reduce healthcare’s carbon footprint to top health bureaucrats
February 27, 2022 - The AMA and DEA outlined their plans to heads of state and federal health departments to reduce the healthcare sector’s carbon footprint.
DEA welcomes the news of the early retirement of Eraring coal power station
February 17, 2022 - Doctors for the Environment Australia (DEA) welcomes the announcement of early retirement of Eraring coal power station. Origin has outlined how security of electricity supply will be maintained, and that ...
Have you stopped wearing reusable fabric masks? Here’s how to cut down waste without compromising your health
February 3, 2022 - An article about COVID-19 medical waste co-authored by DEA member Forbes McGain, University of Melbourne; along with Aleasha McCallion, Monash University; and Kim Borg, Monash University. This article originally appeared ...
Dr Cybele Dey: The invisible impact of climate change
January 27, 2022 - Child and adolescent psychiatrist Dr Cybele Dey is the Chair of the Mental Health Working Group and a member of Doctors for the Environment Australia (DEA) based in Sydney. In ...
Dr John Iser: Some of these hot days are unliveable days
January 27, 2022 - Dr John Iser, Board member for Doctors for the Environment Australia (DEA) was interviewed by the Sydney Morning Herald along with Andrew Gissing, general manager of Risk Frontiers. January 27 ...
Dr Kate Charlesworth: Children are more at risk from gas stoves in the home
January 27, 2022 - Dr Kate Charlesworth, Doctors for the Environment member and public health physician was interviewed by ABC News Australia about the dangers of leaking methane from natural gas stoves. This poses ...
Dr Richard Yin: Heat waves are a real threat, we must cut emissions this decade
January 25, 2022 - Another day of 40 degrees. What does this mean for health. We know that over the last ten years that heat has caused the death of about 3000 Australians. But ...
Dr Eugenie Kayak: Taking action on climate and health is a win-win-win for Australia
January 16, 2022 - Dr Eugenie Kayak along with many other Australian health leaders representing millions of Australians are calling for immediate and ambitious climate action to protect our health. Video with thanks to ...
The Hill: Climate change emergency cannot be solved by disintegrating democracies
January 5, 2022 - Our western democracies can no longer deliver consensus and action on issues that threaten humanity such as climate change, writes Dr David Shearman. Governments are unwilling to accept that many ...
MJAInsight+: COP26 opportunities missed for Australian health care
January 5, 2022 - AT the UN climate change conference (COP26) in Glasgow, over 50 countries participated in the COP26 Health Programme and committed to strengthen the climate resilience and sustainability of their health systems. Yet while health ...
iDEA 2021- it’s a wrap!
November 12, 2021 - iDEA2021: Planet Health and Hope was an exciting, motivating conference, held online on 16 to 17 October 2021. This was DEAs annual conference, and this year it marked the 20th ...
COP26 is over. What happens next?
November 12, 2021 - The UN COP26 conference represented the most important climate event of our time. What are the take-aways? Doctors for the Environment Australia Chair Dr John Van Der Kallen says: It ...
Vales Point Power Station: oppose the granting of a licence exemption.
November 9, 2021 - Doctors for the Environment Australia are concerned by the extremely generous license conditions allowing NSW power stations to pollute at much higher levels than similar facilities overseas Drs Ben Ewald ...