Croakey will resume usual publishing activities in mid-January 2020.
In the meantime, we will re-publish a selection of articles from our archives, drawing upon the #CroakeyEXPLORE series, some of our best-read articles in 2019 (see below for the details), and a selection from our Croakey Conference News Service coverage.
We send our condolences to all who have suffered grief and loss during 2019, especially during the bushfires emergency, and we will return to work in the New Year with a renewed determination to focus on the health impacts of the climate crisis. Our archive of related stories is now featuring on the home page.
We acknowledge all who worked hard in 2019 for better health for communities, and in particular those who fight for health equity and justice, often in the face of damaging policies and politics.
We also acknowledge the climate leadership shown by many in the health sector over the past year, in the face of catastrophic failures in climate policy and political leadership. This comprehensive overview of climate developments in 2019 is also a powerful reminder of how much more work needs to be done.
Meanwhile, in Australia we still do not even have a national climate and health strategy, as noted by the National Rural Health Alliance’s new policy statement on climate change and rural health.
The policy statement notes that those communities already bearing the brunt of social and economic inequities will be hit hardest:
…rural communities urgently need policies and funding to address heatwaves, air pollution (particularly industrial air pollution and aeroallergens), water security, vector borne and water borne diseases, emergency preparedness for extreme weather events, and dedicated funding to support greening of the rural health care sector.”
Meanwhile, a damning editorial in a global business newspaper, the Financial Times, says Prime Minister Scott Morrison is now paying a political cost for his inaction on climate, and warns:
A far higher price will be paid in future for the bleak litany of climate failures his government represents.”
Best-read articles in 2019
At Croakey.org
At Apple News
And a final note of thanks to all of our contributors, readers, and funders: you keep us going, in every sense. Thank you from all of us.
