HCA at the Climate and Health Alliance Summit

In October Healthy Cities staff member Alexander Brown attended the Climate and Health Summit 2025, on Yugambeh/Kombumerri Country in the Gold Coast, Queensland. The summit was an important gathering of healthcare professionals meeting to discuss climate action for healthcare system sustainability and planetary health. 

The summit foregrounded Indigenous perspectives, beginning with a Welcome to Country by local Elder Luther Cora and the Yugambeh dancers, who demonstrated connection to Country by sharing stories, songs, and dancers about eagle and mullet, fishing and dancing. The keynote address was delivered by Emma Rawson Te-Patu, the first Indigenous woman to become President of the World Federation of Public Health Associations, representing 5 million members across more than 110 nations. Emma, who is a member of the Maori tribal groups of Ngāti Ranginui, Ngai te Rangi, Raukawa, and Ngāti Hauā, explained the centrality of decolonisation to environmental justice and health equity. Griffith University academic and Pasifika community leader Inez Fainga’a-Manu Sione, born in Fiji to Tongan parents, emphasised that in Pasifika culture, there is no distinction between environmental and human health, and that both are seen as intimately connected through the health of the family and community. 

Former Chief Medical Officer of Australia Paul Kelly praised the measures outlined in the National Health and Climate Strategy, but noted that without adequate funding, the public servants charged with implementing the strategy have been unable to take bolder action. Sustainability officers from a number of Queensland hospital networks presenting in the Global Green and Healthy Hospitals strand of the conference highlighted the creative ways they have found to reduce carbon emissions in the healthcare sector. By cutting waste they have also produced significant savings for hospital budgets. 

Another strand of the conference had strong alignment with the Healthy Cities framework. Staff from Alliance for Healthy Cities Australian Chapter member City of Gold Coast gave presentations, including Simone Jenkins, Manager of Climate Resilience and Sustainability, who pointed out that an image of the Gold Coast was chosen for the cover of the recently released National Climate Risk Assessment, highlighting the city’s geographic vulnerability to climate change. Nigel Hoy, Senior Director of Asset Management Services at Gold Coast Health and Troy Gersback, Disaster Operations Capability Lead at City of Gold Coast, both shared practical experiences from when Cyclone Alfred hit the city earlier this year. Down on the South Coast of NSW, construction worker Gregg Webb also spoke from direct experience of climate disaster. The Black Summer bushfires of 2019 cost him his home and very nearly his life. Rebuilding in an area vulnerable to future bushfires, Webb explained how the Resilient Building Council’s online resources and mobile application can assist homeowners to assess their property’s disaster resilience and implement measures to reduce risk. 

Air pollution was another conference theme, with researchers and practitioners sharing the growing evidence of the widespread health impacts of both indoor and outdoor air pollution. Dr Dwan Vilcins from University of Queensland explained that children’s lungs are particularly vulnerable to smoke exposure as they are still developing and they breathe more air per kilogram of body weight compared with adults. Paediatrician Louise Woodward shared her concerns about gas leaks from the Santos LNG export hub in Darwin where she works, which pose significant risks to respiratory health. 

With the conference making clear the serious challenges we face, Bronwyn Gresham from Psychology for a Safe Climate joined a panel on the impact of climate anxiety and strategies for building resilience to sustain ongoing action for a healthy climate. Contributors to the panel shared professional and personal experiences with managing the mental health impacts of climate change and colonisation, emphasising the need for a collective approach to sharing the mental load.

Healthy Cities Australia is glad to be part of the public health and community sector community response to the climate crisis. This year, we have supported the household electrification movement in Wollongong that seeks to reduce exposure to harmful indoor gas appliances, decrease fossil fuel dependence, and reduce household energy costs. The Climate and Health Summit 2025 will inspire us to take further action on climate and health ion 2026, in the Illawarra Shoalhaven and beyond.