More than 200 health professionals and organisations have signed an open letter to Australian lawmakers, demanding an end to promotions for coal, oil and gas.
To: the Prime Minister, Premiers, Ministers, MPs and Mayors
Summary: Our laws are designed to protect the health and wellbeing of Australians. On the grounds of protecting health, we as health professionals strongly urge all levels of government to ban fossil fuel advertising and sponsorships.
The promotion of tobacco, gambling and alcohol is restricted across all three levels of government in recognition of their health impacts on our community.
Yet coal, oil and gas corporations are allowed unrestricted access to our airways, billboards and digital platforms to sell themselves and the products that are damaging our health, environment and climate.
Fossil fuels are hazardous to human health. From the time they are dug out of the ground to when they are burned, they release toxic pollutants into our air, soil and waterways. Living near fracking wells has been linked to premature births and early deaths. Air pollution from fossil fuels alone takes 8.7 million lives prematurely each year – the same as tobacco.
Burning fossil fuels is also the primary cause of global warming which is driving more intense and frequent heat waves, storms, bushfires and droughts. The impact this will have on human health and our health systems cannot be underestimated. It is expected that climate change could cause around 83 million human deaths by 2100 if urgent action isn’t taken. Countless more will suffer long-term physical, economic and mental impacts of displacement, loss of life and loss of livelihoods.
Advertising fossil fuels serves no purpose other than to increase demand for the products that are driving climate change and harming our community.
There is no good argument for continuing to allow fossil fuel companies to promote themselves.
Fossil fuel advertisements mislead consumers about the environmental attributes of their dangerous and toxic products, and delays the shift in social attitudes urgently required to transition to safer, cleaner energy. This dangerous promotion is at the cost of public health and has not been curtailed by advertising industry self-regulation.
Restrictions on fossil fuel advertising are in place in France, Amsterdam, and several UK council areas in recognition of the numerous harms that fossil fuels cause. Other laws are being debated in the EU, Germany, Sweden and Canada.
We, as healthcare workers, are on the frontline of the impacts of climate change on human health. We ask you to protect the health of Australians by banning the advertising of coal, oil and gas products, as well as the promotion of fossil fuel companies through advertising and sponsorships.
SIGNATORIES
Organisations
Australasian Epidemiological Association
Australasian Society of Lifestyle Medicine
Australian Health Promotion Association
ALMA
Environmental Health Australia
Australian Primary Health Care Nurses Association (APNA)
North American Climate, Conservation and Environment
Heidelberg Institute of Global Health
Banksia Medical Centre
Qld Paediatric Telehealth Service
Rural Doctors Association of Victoria
Climate and Health Alliance
Climate Justice Union
Healthy Futures
Psychology for a Safe Climate
Medical Scientists Association of Victoria
Australian Federation of Medical Women
Australian Healthcare and Hospital Association
Doctors for the Environment Australia
Lowitja Institute
Veterinarians for Climate Action
Enriching Lives Psychology
Individuals
Prof Elizabeth Eakin, Head of School, School of Public Health, University of Queensland
Prof Simon Chapman, Emeritus Professor Public Health, School of Public Health, University of Sydney
Prof Rob Moodie, School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne
Prof Jane Fisher, Finkel Professor of Global Health, Monash University
Prof Melissa Haswell, School of Public Health, University of Sydney
Prof Kathryn Bowen, School of Population & Global Health, University of Melbourne and IPCC lead author
Prof Iain Walker, Professor Psychology, University of Melbourne
Prof John Wiseman, Senior Research Fellow, Melbourne Climate Futures, University of Melbourne
Prof Lynne Madden, Professor Population and Planetary Health, University of Notre Dame
A/Prof Rob Eisenberg, School of Medicine and Public Health College of Health, Medicine and Wellbeing, University of Newcastle
A/Prof Linda Anne Selvey, School of Public Health, University of Queensland
A/Prof Celia McMichael, Faculty of Science, University of Melbourne
A/Prof Liz Hanna, Chair, Environmental Health Working Group of the World Federation of Public Health Association
A/Prof Katy Bell, Clinical Epidemiologist, University of Sydney
Hon Prof Peter Brooks, School of Medicine, University of Melbourne
| Roslyn Morgan | Registered Nurse and Environmental Health Officer |
| Dr Michael Williams | Paediatrician |
| Jette Bollerup | Registered Nurse |
| Takuzo Kimura | Physiotherapist |
| Rachel Chiodo | Psychologist |
| Chitra Maharani Saraswati | Medical Statistician |
| Dr Keren Witcombe | GP and Medical Educator |
| Benjamin Mouat | Office Manager |
| Joshua Jones | Pharmacist |
| Rachel Chiodo | Psychologist |
| Diana Barnett | Founder |
| Carolyn Orr | Neurologist |
| Emma-Leigh Synnott | Consultant Physician |
| Carly Dober | Psychologist |
| Dr Ruby Campbell | Managing Director |
| Dr Cybele Dey | Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist |
| Megan Turner | Faculty of Health, Deakin University |
| Lin Oke | Retired OT |
| Diana Barnett | Founder |
| Carly Dober | Director & Principal Psychologist |
| Dr Gemma Crawford | President |
| Dr Sebastian Cordoba | Academic |
| Sandra Murray | Dietitian, Lecturer |
| Dr Kim Loo | General Practitioner |
| Dr Katrina Lyne | General Practitioner |
| Dr John William Sheridan | Public health physician |
| Dr Brett Montgomery | General Practitioner |
| Rosalie Schultz | Senior Medical officer |
| Tim Read | MLA |
| Martina Mende | FRACGP |
| David Duindam | Physiotherapist |
| Liz Rickman | Medical Doctor, Convener of the international Issues and Human Rights Subcommittee ALMA |
| Dr Tracy Schrader | General Practitioner |
| Frances Sutherland | Psychologist |
| Sunny Goddard | Homeopath |
| Sally-Anne Brown | Psychologist |
| Dr John Scopel | General Practitioner |
| Dr Michael Clifford | Paediatric Intensive Care Specialist |
| Sue Cooke | Researcher, Educator, School of Medicine, Griffith University |
| Tom Clemens | Paediatrician |
| Gabriela Martinez | Senior Health Promotion Officer |
| Marianne Cannon | Senior Staff Specialist |
| Timothy Oseckas | Nurse |
| Diana Sampson | General Practitioner |
| Jerry Rivers | Environmental scientist |
| Nancy Vozoff | Registered Nurse |
| Alexandra Natoli | Paramedic |
| Katriona Wylie | General Practitioner |
| Emily Vecchio | Health Promotions |
| Benn Miller | Programme Manager, Towards Zero Suicides |
| Dr Ruby Campbell | Managing Director |
| Nicola McKay | Mental Health |
| Alannah Romeo | Health Promotions |
| Dr Mike Forrester | Paediatrician |
| Fiona Bennett | Registered Nurse |
| Carly Hollier | Physiotherapist |
| Dr John Upham | Respiratory Physician |
| Dr Charles Watson | Neuroscientist and Public Health Physician |
| Dr Peter Nightingale | GP Registrar |
| Dr Jenny Ching-Min Huang | Dr |
| Amanda Goulding | GP registrar |
| Bernard Shiu | General Practitioner |
| Dr Annabelle Warren | Endocrinologist |
| Peter W Tait | General Practitioner |
| Marie-Pierre Cleret | Psychotherapist |
| Beni Ballista | Public Health |
| Cheri Huggins | Senior Clinician |
| Timothy Oseckas | Registered Nurse |
| Dr Helen Redmond | Rehabilitation Medicine Physician |
| Monique Hull | Registered Nurse/Paramedic |
| Deanna Hayes | Clinical nurse educator |
| Carly Dober | Psychologist |
| Bronwyn Gresham | Psychologist |
| Dr Michael Clifford | Paediatric Intensive Care Specialist, MBBS (Hons), FANAZCA, FCICM |
| Teresa Mary Mahy | Soft Tissue Injury Specialist |
| Dr Emma Gilberg | MBBS FRACGP |
| Patricia Nayna Schwerdtle | Global Health Academic, Fmr Registered Nurse |
| Dr Valerie Anne Kay | Climate Change and Public Health, Monash University |
| Dr Marianne Cannon | Emergency Physician |
| Dr Rosalie Schultz | FRACGP, FARGP, FAFPHM, PhD |
| Suhailah Ali | PhD student in Public Health/Epidemiology |
| Peter Sainsbury | MBBS. PhD |
| Gabriela Stilita | Clinical Psychology |
| David Duindam | Senior Physiotherapist |
| Lynette Saville | Registered Nurse, Sessional Academic |
| Ying Gu | MBBS BMedSci FRANZCOG DDU COGU |
| Dr Bernard Shiu | BSc, MS, MD, FRACGP |
| Jenny Ching-Min Huang | General Practitioner |
| Dr Sonia Chanchlani | Doctor |
| Fiona Charlson | Public health researcher |
| Katie Fisher | BMed/FRACGP |
| Alwie Tjipto | Nephrologist |
| Dr Peter Nightingale | GP registrar |
| Matthew Wickert | Radiographer |
| Georgia Langmaid | Health Promotion |
| Nicola McKay | Community Mental Health |
| Michael Williams | Mb Bs FRACP M MedSci |
| Dr Kate Wylie | General Practitioner |
| Julian Cassar | MBBS, FRACGP |
| Jonathan Prince | Registered Nurse |
| Pamela McCalman | Midwife |
| Dr Richard Yin | General Practitioner |
| Dr Verity Robin | General Practitioner |
| Victor Ly | Medical Student |
| Dr Katherine Jarosz | Paediatrician |
| Nishani Nithianandan | Paediatric Registrar |
| Nicole Chiuchiarelli | Radiographer |
| Shay Jayawardena | Neurological Rehabilitation |
| Natalie Ngu | Doctor |
| Emily Stuart | Critical Care Registered Nurse |
| Greta Gillies | Research Assistant |
| Karen Kiang | Paediatrician |
| Jocelyn Olsson | Chiropractor |
| Jacquelin Janosi | HealthPathways |
| Dr Lucy Owen | MBBS FACEM |
| Denise Ruth | General Practitioner |
| Binula Wickramarachchi | MBChB |
| Dr Shaun Watson | Neurologist FRACP PhD |
| Cybele Dey | Psychiatrist |
| Carolyn Orr | Consultant Neurologist |
| Dr Peter Sainsbury | MBBS, PhD |
| Carol Ann Ride | Executive Director, Psychologist |
| Dr. Özge Tanrikut | General Practitioner |
| Dr Magdalena Simonis | President Australian Federation of Medical Women |
| Nikki Shelton | Medical Physicist |
| Emma-Leigh Synnott | Consultant Physician, and Medical Lead for Climate Health and Environmental Sustainability |
| Lisa Avery | Registered nurse |
| Grace Isobel Davies | MBBS (Hons), BMedSci (Hons) |
| Dr Merryn Redenbach | Paediatrician |
| Mary Britton | FRACP |
| Dr Aletha Ward | Academic R.N. PhD. |
| Richard Seglenieks | Anaesthetist |
| Andrew Dawson | PhD |
| Dr Katitza Marinkovic Chavez | Research Fellow |
| Melanie Lowe | Research fellow |
| Karen Block | Public Health Senior Research Fellow |
| Phoebe Quinn | Research Fellow |
| Jennifer Martin | Physician |
| Marianne Cannon | MBBS MPH FACEM |
| Hannah Morrice | Research Fellow, Public Health |
| Takuzo Kimura | Physiotherapist |
| Dr Nicole Sleeman | MBBS FRACGP |
| Charles Watson | MBBS FAFPHM |
| Julia Read | Registered Nurse |
| Lin Oke | Retired OT |
| Dr Ingrid Johnston | CEO |
| Jess Whittaker | Paramedic |
| Nicole Colquhoun | Paramedic |
| Eve Olsson | Executive Officer |
| Tonya Flower | Paramedic |
| Lavanya Naidoo | Clinical Informatics Nurse Manager |
| Victor Chea | Exercise Physiologist |
| Shane Marles-Malone | Registered Nurse |
| Jacob Cincotta | Paramedic |
| Rose Harris | Physiotherapy student |
| Susanne Lysiak | Physiotherapist |
| Bianca Crowder | Medical student |
| Peter Lamshed | Mental health clinician |
