Climate Café: How you can improve your health by acting on climate change
DOWNLOAD PRESENTATION AND SUMMARY OF DISCUSSION BELOW.
The most common causes of death in Australia are lifestyle-related chronic diseases such as diabetes, liver, heart and kidney disease. Unfortunately our sedentary lifestyles and poor diets are major contributors to these debilitating conditions and are also causing rising levels of obesity across the population.
At the same time, we are witnessing the mounting impacts of climate change. For example, Canberra’s average maximum temperature in 2018 was 2.2°C above the long term average maximum and January 2019 was the hottest month on record for Australia.
But what if we could extend our lives and tackle climate change at the same time? More active transport such as walking or cycling, spending less time in our cars and growing and consuming food locally not only improve our wellbeing but also help reduce our greenhouse gas emissions.
Dr Arnagretta Hunter will kick off discussion with a short presentation, followed by small group discussion of the following questions:
- How would you design your suburb to maximise activity and nutrition?
- If we were to take petrol out of Canberra by 2030, how would you sell this vision to the community?
- What are the barriers to this vision for Canberra and how can we overcome them?
A low carbon lunch will be provided by Canberra Magic Kitchen.
Download presentation by Dr Arnagretta Hunter (3.3MB)
Download a summary of discussion from the Climate Cafe (1.3MB)
About the speaker
Dr Arnagretta Hunter is a physician and cardiologist with an interest in preventative health and public policy. She works in Canberra and regional NSW and is an honorary senior clinical lecturer at the ANU Medical School.
About Climate Café
Climate Café is a relaxed gathering of people interested in discussing ideas and questions on climate change and related topics. It cuts across disciplines, is inclusive, jargon-free and fun. The approach is modelled on dialogue events such as Café Philosophic and Café Scientifique.
Registration via Eventbrite is essential. Please make sure that you only register if you genuinely intend to attend. If you register and then later find that you're unable to attend, please log into your Eventbrite account and cancel your ticket as soon as possible so that your seat is freed up for someone else.