Page 3473 - Week 10 - Thursday, 20 October 2022
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(h) the ACT Government has been investigating formal participation in the World Health Organisation’s Alliance for Transformative Action on Climate and Health, which is working to realise the ambition set at COP26 to build climate resilient and sustainable health systems, and the Minister for Health participated in an associated Health Leadership Roundtable on Climate Action on 29 June 2022;
(i) the Albanese Government committed to developing Australia’s first National Climate Health Strategy and make climate health a national health priority, ahead of the 2022 Federal Election;
(j) On 1 July 2022 at the first Health Ministers’ meeting with the new federal Labor Health Minister, the Hon Mark Butler MP, Minister Stephen-Smith raised the importance of responding collaboratively and nationally to the challenge climate change presents to public health and Australia’s health system; and
(k) on 3 August 2022, Minister Butler publicly confirmed that the Albanese Government has commenced early work on developing a National Climate Health Strategy in collaboration with state and territory governments; and
(3) calls on the ACT Government to:
(a) continue delivering the ACT Climate Change Strategy 2019-2025 and the Bushfire Smoke and Air Quality Strategy 2020-2025 to ensure that public health services and the community are prepared for the impacts of climate change;
(b) continue to work with the Albanese Government, through National Cabinet and Health Ministers’ meetings to support the development of a National Climate Health Strategy;
(c) develop a nation leading ACT climate change and health plan that reflects the ongoing work of National Cabinet and Health Ministers on a National Climate Health Strategy;
(d) continue to participate in knowledge and information sharing through the Alliance for Transformative Action on Climate and Health and expedite consideration of formal membership;
(e) ensure that the ACT Health Directorate collects and reports on data to monitor progress against resilience indicators, including continuation of the longitudinal survey and climate-related health impacts and costs; and
(f) report back to the ACT Legislative Assembly by the last sitting of 2023.”.
MR BRADDOCK (Yerrabi) (4.41): Stepping out of your car and onto your bike is one of the best things you can do to help the environment and your health. Choosing a bike over a car just once a day reduces the average person’s carbon emissions from transportation by 67 per cent. More than half of all daily trips are less than five kilometres, a perfect distance for a climate-friendly and healthy bike ride. In 2022, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change even identified bicycling as a solution to ensure a sustainable world for everyone both now and in the future.
Let us look at how this one small change in your transportation habits significantly helps protect the environment. Firstly, it means cleaner air. Harmful particulates, chemicals and gases released from the exhaust of our vehicles contribute to air
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