I would like to thank local doctors Michelle Hamrosi and Luke Mitchell for their timely and excellent letters Open Letter to Councillors and Doctors are Uniting (Bay Post/Moruya Examiner, August 9).
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Both elucidate the nexus between climate change, severe weather events and human physical/mental health.
Eurobodalla residents may not be aware that 31 councils across Australia are acting on the health impacts of climate change by declaring a climate emergency.
Local government can play a critical role in achieving a nation-wide emergency response. How?
- By declaring a climate emergency to unlock all the required policy changes and funds for a rapid climate emergency response
- By starting the process to demonstrate successful climate emergency initiatives at the local level.
Early successes in local communities can spread outwards to other local council areas and upwards to the state/territory and federal levels. (Climate Emergency Declaration & Mobilisation in Action)
Government News reported recently that local councils across Australia are set to become the first to form an intra-governmental alliance to push for real action to curb the effects of climate change, announcing plans to form Climate Emergency Australia (CEA) and will also be supplemented by another alliance of nine hundred councils from across the world who have declared a climate emergency.
Dr Hamrosi is right the negative outcomes of climate change on health are no longer someone else's problem.
As Dr Mitchell says it is not "scaremongering" to expect councillors to respect their role as civic leaders with duty of care "to inform our community of the threat before them".
Think global act local is a common principle that we can apply to climate change locally and work together to take action now.
Maureen Searson
President ALP Eurobodalla Local Government Committee
