Navigating Health, Climate & Sustainable Development

DR ANNABELLE (BELLE) WORKMAN (OGC 2003), RESEARCH FELLOW, MELBOURNE CLIMATE FUTURES, UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE ,

Until the recent global COVID-19 comparatively good health was something that many of us took for granted.

Like many others, I took good health for granted, growing up in a loving family with healthy members until my mother’s cancer diagnosis in my penultimate year of school. Our family’s experience with her journey changed the trajectory of my life both personally and professionally.

While I had plans of becoming a physiotherapist or dietitian while at school, the world had other plans and following undergraduate studies in political science and Chinese, I instead found myself working in public health at a government agency, carrying with

me a strong interest in environmental policies. When these two interests collided and I learnt more about environmental health (that is, how human health is affected by our natural and built environments), I realised I had found my longterm professional pathway, in part motivated by my mother’s experience with our healthcare system.

I am now privileged to work as a Research Fellow at the University of Melbourne’s Melbourne Climate Futures initiative, undertaking research at the intersection of climate change, human health, and policy

development. In essence, I’m interested in how our policymakers think about our health when they develop policies relating to climate change. When people ask me what I do to stay out of trouble and I explain my research, they are usually confused – what does climate change have to do with health?!

It’s a legitimate question; we still have a lot of work to do when it comes to communicating the relationship between the two concepts. But many people are increasingly understanding the inextricable link between our health and the health of our environment. For example, an increasing number of people in Australia have unfortunately had their own personal experiences with natural disasters, such as floods, bushfires, droughts, and heatwaves, and have experienced the negative mental and/or physical health outcomes that are often a consequence.

Importantly, there are many actions and policies in other sectors that are beyond the control of the health department that can affect our health. Take the energy and transport sectors as an example. Activities in these sectors can determine our health outcomes, as the most common types of energy sources that we use and the most common types of vehicles that we drive create pollution that can directly affect our health. A new report from the recently launched Centre of Excellence, the Centre for Safe Air, looks at some of the economic costs associated with injury and premature death from exposure to air pollution in Australia. Their report included results from a recent modelling study undertaken by the New South Wales Department of Planning and Environment that found economic costs associated with air pollution in greater metropolitan New South Wales were an estimated AUD$ 4.8 billion (2021 dollars) annually[1].

To address climate and environmental change, and to maximise our health and wellbeing,

we therefore must take a crosssectoral approach. The health impacts of climate change and other environmental issues cannot be managed by our health departments alone. What this means for students of today and tomorrow is that no matter the industry or line of work they pursue, they will need a fundamental understanding of ‘healthy’, environmentally friendly approaches and processes to the work they undertake. At the highest level, we call this sustainability or sustainable development.

Sustainable development involves us living and progressing in a way that does not compromise the health and safety of current or future generations. It’s a concept that has been embraced globally; in 2015, all United Nations Member States committed to pursue the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development as a ‘blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet’[2], underpinned by 17 goals (SDGs). The SDGs comprise ambitious objectives, such as ‘no poverty’, ‘zero hunger’, and ‘responsible consumption and production’. How do we take these high-level, all-encompassing goals and implement them on the ground to effectively achieve change? A multi-pronged approach is required, including the investment of time and money to modify current practices, bolstered by efforts to equip our future leaders with knowledge and skills on sustainability and sustainable practice.

From memory (it was 20 years ago), my exposure to sustainability during primary and secondary education was present but sporadic and inconsistent. While I am aware through my work and through my children’s educational experiences that schools have advanced and teachers are proactively incorporating sustainability into their lesson planning, if we are to succeed in equipping our children with the sustainability knowledge and skills they need, a coordinated approach is required. It is imperative that we embed sustainability concepts and principles into

the curriculum in every year of schooling. Like learning a language, sustainability literacy is best developed through consistent and repeated exposure to increasing, age-appropriate complexity of concepts over time.

Under ‘business as usual’ scenarios, the predictions for our planet, and our children’s futures on it, are deeply concerning. The predicted environmental changes that future generations will inevitably face underscores the critical importance of all high school leavers, irrespective of their career pathway, possessing a strong foundational knowledge of sustainability both in theory and in practice.

In September 2023, the Victorian Government released guidance on taking a whole-of-school approach to environmental sustainability[3].

This includes:

i) practising sustainability operationally (i.e. shifting from fossil fuels to clean, renewable sources for energy needs)

ii) teaching sustainability

iii) engaging school communities through partnerships.

Although not mandated, this guidance will hopefully support schools committed to providing their students with a holistic and wellrounded sustainability experience that sets them up for success as future leaders.

[1] https://safeair.org.au/safer_air_ healthier_communities/

[2] https://sdgs.un.org/goals

[3] https://www2.education.vic.gov. au/pal/environmental-sustainabilityschools/policy