Doctors for the Environment Australia

03/12/2025

DEA member Dr John Van Der Kallen has co-authored an important new journal article, highlighting how our changing climate is already impacting people with autoimmune and rheumatic diseases.

The article examines the carbon footprint of rheumatology as a specialty, and outlines practical steps that physicians can take to cut emissions and protect patient health.

Read the full article, published online in 'Rheumatic Disease Clinics of North America' here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0889857X25000791?dgcid=author

02/12/2025

Doctors took to the water to join Rising Tide’s People’s Blockade of the world’s largest coal port.

Their message was clear: coal and gas are health hazards. To protect the health of our people and planet, our government must move us on from fossil fuels.

02/12/2025

It's Giving Tuesday: Can you help us make 2026 our best year yet?

If you're in the position to donate this Giving Tuesday, it will greatly enhance our ability to make 2026, DEA's 25th Anniversary year, our most active and successful year yet. Our target is $60,000 by 31 December 2025.

If you'd like to make a tax-deductible donation, head to the link in the comments below 👇💚

01/12/2025

Over the weekend, DEA members took part in The Rising Tide People’s Blockade of the world’s largest coal port.

We are so proud of our members for exercising their right to peaceful protest 💚🌏

Our message was clear: coal and gas are health hazards. To protect the health of our people and planet, our government must move us on from fossil fuels.

28/11/2025

This week, Australia officially endorsed the Belém Health Action Plan, a global plan to help countries prepare their health systems for the growing impacts of climate change.

Days later, the Australian Government approved new nature laws that allow major coal and gas projects to be approved without any assessment of their health impacts.

We end this week by celebrating the progress that has been made, whilst also acknowledging that there's a lot more work to be done.

As our executive director, Dr Kate Wylie says in this article for The Medical Republic,

"Just like every cigarette is doing us damage, every tonne of carbon added to the atmosphere damages us too... and just as medical professionals called out the health harms of to***co which led to comprehensive regulation, we are now calling for regulation of fossil fuels."

In the same week that Australia co-signed a global action plan to minimise the impact of climate change on health systems, doctors are warning that federal government environment reforms do not go far enough.

27/11/2025

Today, Labor and the Greens struck a historic deal to overhaul Australia’s national environment laws. This is a huge win for the environment and for communities who’ve fought for stronger protections for decades.

Doctors for the Environment Australia would like to congratulate our members, environmental advocacy groups, and everyone in Parliament who fought long and hard for environmental laws that will actually protect our environment.

Unfortunately, the proposed amendments still prevent the Environment Minister from considering the climate pollution of new coal and gas projects. With our communities already feeling the impacts of rising heat, air pollution, extreme weather, and ecological collapse, this is a worrying omission.

The laws establish a definition of “unacceptable impacts on nationally protected matters” and national environmental standards. Worryingly, the proposed definition of “unacceptable impacts” does not include human health effects. This effectively allows the Environment Minister, Senator Murray Watt, to approve a proposal without assessing the risk it poses to public health.

How can a project that could potentially lead to deaths be deemed acceptable?

This is a meaningful win, but we will not stop fighting until our laws recognise that any threat to our health is an unacceptable impact.

26/11/2025

Our executive director Dr Kate Wylie and board chair Prof Nick Talley were in Canberra this week, attending a high-level roundtable on climate and health.

Alongside the World Health Organization (WHO) ACE team and representatives from the Pacific Islands, civil society, research and government, they had important discussions on how we can progress the health agenda after COP30.

Health is not considered in COP negotiations, but we want to change that. The Belém Health Action Plan is very much a step in the right direction.

25/11/2025

Our executive director Dr Kate Wylie has written an important and timely article for Croakey News, urging the senate to include human health in their proposed environmental reforms.

“Clean air, clean water, healthy soils…and a stable climate are fundamental to human health, yet health considerations are nowhere to be seen in the ‘reforms’”

Amid intense politicking around national environmental law reforms that the Albanese Government appears determined to finalise this week, ahead of

25/11/2025

Doctors for the Environment Australia has had a huge year.

Our members have:

- Conducted grand rounds
- Spoken at medical conferences
- Held community and candidate forums
- Had stalls at markets
- Presented to state and federal MPs
- Spoken at local councils
- Taken Woodside & NOPSEMA to the federal court
- Signed petitions
- Published submissions and reports
- Held webinars
- Supported other organisations with our medical voice

We do all of this to ensure that our important message of 'healthy planet, healthy people' is heard.

Can you help us accomplish even more next year?

Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to our End of Year appeal today 👇

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24/11/2025

We have reached our fundraising goal! 🥳

A massive thank you to all the wonderful people who donated and supported us during this very stressful time. 💚

Your support means that DEA can keep up the fight against the malignant barbarity of the fossil fuel industry and all those that abet them.

From the bottom of our hearts: Thank You.

24/11/2025

Dr Kimberley Humphrey, an emergency medicine specialist representing Doctors for the Environment Australia at COP30, jumped into action to help treat people impacted by the fire.

“It was terrifying...It’s like the universe is telling us something, which is: get on and do something”

Dramatic and "terrifying" scenes as fire forces evacuation at Brazil climate conference with no fire alarms or sprinkler systems.

21/11/2025

Can you help us in our fight against Woodside?

🔗 We are SO close to hitting our goal. We just need a little bit more help to get us there. Please donate and share if you can, every dollar helps: https://chuffed.org/project/145557-support-dea-protect-your-health