December 01, 2015
Climate action would improve health
A Maori doctor and climate change activist says taking action to address global warming will lead to a healthier society.
The world’s leaders are in Paris for a United Nations summit aimed at getting agreement on controlling carbon emissions in the hope that the overall global temperature rise can be kept under 2 degrees.
Dr Rhys Jones says the voluntary targets New Zealand is taking to the conference are too low and won’t bring any credit to the country.
He says New Zealand needs to take some major actions to cut its greenhouse gas emissions, and along the way it can address some challenges faced by society.
"Particularly for us in the health field, we look to things like phasing out coal, moving from car trips to more active transport – walking, cycling, public transport – more energy efficient homes, all those sorts of things can help reduce out emissions but more importantly lead to health improvements and reduce the impact of some of our major killers like cardiovascular disease, obesity, diabetes," Dr Jones says.
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