• Energy Research

Climate plays an important role in human health and it is well established that climate change can have very significant impacts in this regard. In partnership with The Lancet and the MJA, we present the inaugural Australian Countdown assessment of progress on climate change and health. This comprehensive assessment examines 41 indicators across five broad sections: climate change impacts, exposures and vulnerability; adaptation, planning and resilience for health; mitigation actions and health co-benefits; economics and finance; and public and political engagement. These indicators and the methods used for each are largely consistent with those of the Lancet Countdown global assessment published in October 2017, but with an Australian focus. Significant developments include the addition of a new indicator on mental health. Overall, we find that Australia is vulnerable to the impacts of climate change on health, and that policy inaction in this regard threatens Australian lives. In a number of respects, Australia has gone backwards and now lags behind other high income countries such as Germany and the United Kingdom. Examples include the persistence of a very high carbon-intensive energy system in Australia, and its slow transition to renewables and low carbon electricity generation. However, we also find some examples of good progress, such as heatwave response planning. Given the overall poor state of progress on climate change and health in Australia, this country now has an enormous opportunity to take action and protect human health and lives. Australia has the technical knowhow and intellect to do this, and our annual updates of this assessment will track Australia's engagement with and progress on this vitally important issue.

Climate plays an important role in human health and it is well established that climate change can have very significant impacts in this regard. In partnership with The Lancet and the MJA, we present the inaugural Australian Countdown assessment of progress on climate change and health. This comprehensive assessment examines 41 indicators across five broad sections: climate change impacts, exposures and vulnerability; adaptation, planning and resilience for health; mitigation actions and health co-benefits; economics and finance; and public and political engagement. These indicators and the methods used for each are largely consistent with those of the Lancet Countdown global assessment published in October 2017, but with an Australian focus. Significant developments include the addition of a new indicator on mental health. Overall, we find that Australia is vulnerable to the impacts of climate change on health, and that policy inaction in this regard threatens Australian lives. In a number of respects, Australia has gone backwards and now lags behind other high income countries such as Germany and the United Kingdom. Examples include the persistence of a very high carbon-intensive energy system in Australia, and its slow transition to renewables and low carbon electricity generation. However, we also find some examples of good progress, such as heatwave response planning. Given the overall poor state of progress on climate change and health in Australia, this country now has an enormous opportunity to take action and protect human health and lives. Australia has the technical knowhow and intellect to do this, and our annual updates of this assessment will track Australia's engagement with and progress on this vitally important issue.

Awareness of the benefits of environmentally sustainable health care is growing. In the United Kingdom in 2010, an educational intervention on sustainable health care was successfully delivered to public health registrars. We conducted a feasibility study to test the intervention in Australia.The intervention consisted of a 1-day workshop delivered face-to-face covering climate change, sustainability and health. The workshop was modified, piloted and then delivered to 33 health professionals. Modifications included using Australian resources, introducing active learning exercises and including guest speakers. Delivery by videoconference was trialled. Outcomes were assessed in three areas - awareness, advocacy and action - using questionnaires and follow-up telephone interviews.There were improvements in participants' mean awareness and advocacy scores. All participants rated sustainability as 'important' for health professionals and many looked to their professional organisation to take a lead advocacy role on this issue.This study demonstrated that the workshop is feasible for use in Australia; the modifications and delivery by videoconference were well received.

Awareness of the benefits of environmentally sustainable health care is growing. In the United Kingdom in 2010, an educational intervention on sustainable health care was successfully delivered to public health registrars. We conducted a feasibility study to test the intervention in Australia.The intervention consisted of a 1-day workshop delivered face-to-face covering climate change, sustainability and health. The workshop was modified, piloted and then delivered to 33 health professionals. Modifications included using Australian resources, introducing active learning exercises and including guest speakers. Delivery by videoconference was trialled. Outcomes were assessed in three areas - awareness, advocacy and action - using questionnaires and follow-up telephone interviews.There were improvements in participants' mean awareness and advocacy scores. All participants rated sustainability as 'important' for health professionals and many looked to their professional organisation to take a lead advocacy role on this issue.This study demonstrated that the workshop is feasible for use in Australia; the modifications and delivery by videoconference were well received.

Introduction: Deepening global inequalities in the health impacts of climate change highlight the need for transformative solutions through international and transdisciplinary collaborations. While the emerging field of planetary health provides a unique lens for recognizing interlinkages across a broader range of knowledge systems, a deeper understanding is needed about the processes through which such knowledge systems can be developed and integrated. Existing transdisciplinarity scholarship offers useful concepts of integration across boundaries; however, such understanding predominantly reflects the perspectives of Global North academic stakeholders, conceivably due to systemic power imbalance as an enduring colonial legacy. This study aims to identify opportunities for learning from the experiences of Global South stakeholders in transdisciplinary collaboration. Methods: We empirically explore the process of transdisciplinary collaboration in a case study of a large-scale planetary health research project. Through multi-method thematic analysis, this study seeks to understand Global South stakeholders’ contributions, motivations, and interactions on transdisciplinary collaboration, through their experiences in the case study context. Results & Discussion: The study found that Global South stakeholders contributed a plethora of disciplinary and non-disciplinary knowledge and other resources, guided by strong cultural inclinations for collaboration. The opening up of boundary spaces was key to multi-directional knowledge integration. Analysis revealed concepts of interdependence and complementarity towards a common vision, and provides insight into stakeholders’ motivations for initial and continuing engagement. Conclusion: Recognizing interdependence provides strong motivation for transdisciplinary collaboration and can help revalorize contributions from historically disadvantaged knowledge systems and stakeholders.

Introduction: Deepening global inequalities in the health impacts of climate change highlight the need for transformative solutions through international and transdisciplinary collaborations. While the emerging field of planetary health provides a unique lens for recognizing interlinkages across a broader range of knowledge systems, a deeper understanding is needed about the processes through which such knowledge systems can be developed and integrated. Existing transdisciplinarity scholarship offers useful concepts of integration across boundaries; however, such understanding predominantly reflects the perspectives of Global North academic stakeholders, conceivably due to systemic power imbalance as an enduring colonial legacy. This study aims to identify opportunities for learning from the experiences of Global South stakeholders in transdisciplinary collaboration. Methods: We empirically explore the process of transdisciplinary collaboration in a case study of a large-scale planetary health research project. Through multi-method thematic analysis, this study seeks to understand Global South stakeholders’ contributions, motivations, and interactions on transdisciplinary collaboration, through their experiences in the case study context. Results & Discussion: The study found that Global South stakeholders contributed a plethora of disciplinary and non-disciplinary knowledge and other resources, guided by strong cultural inclinations for collaboration. The opening up of boundary spaces was key to multi-directional knowledge integration. Analysis revealed concepts of interdependence and complementarity towards a common vision, and provides insight into stakeholders’ motivations for initial and continuing engagement. Conclusion: Recognizing interdependence provides strong motivation for transdisciplinary collaboration and can help revalorize contributions from historically disadvantaged knowledge systems and stakeholders.