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The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RANZCOG) is the leading standards body in women’s health across Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand. We are responsible for the education, training, accreditation and continuing professional development of specialist Obstetricians, Gynaecologists and GP Obstetricians. As a College committed to the health of people accessing obstetric and gynaecological care, babies, and families across Oceania, RANZCOG also recognises a duty to advocate on the broader determinants of health; social, environmental, cultural and economic.

Climate change is a defining health challenge of our time. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the broader scientific community have unequivocally demonstrated that human activity is the primary driver of global warming. The consequences, including rising temperatures, extreme weather events, air pollution and environmental degradation, are already having serious impacts on health systems and communities. For women, girls, and birthing people, these impacts are compounded by existing structural inequities and biological vulnerability during pregnancy and early life.

There is growing evidence that climate change is associated with increased risks of stillbirth, preterm birth, low birth weight and mental health conditions.^1,2 Food and water insecurity, poor air quality, infectious disease burden and displacement from climate-related disasters all disproportionately affect women, children, First Nations peoples, rural communities and those living in low-resource settings. Climate change is a catalyst for widening health inequality.

The healthcare sector contributes approximately 7% of Australia’s total greenhouse gas emissions, with major contributors including hospitals, pharmaceutical production, medical waste and energy-intensive infrastructure. RANZCOG calls for urgent, coordinated and sustained action from governments, health departments, hospitals, academic institutions and individual clinicians, to reduce the environmental impact of the healthcare sector. Environmental sustainability must be embedded into every level of the healthcare system, from how we deliver care, to how we educate future practitioners, to how we procure supplies and design infrastructure.

Key actions must include:

• Investment in climate-resilient, low-carbon healthcare systems
• Inclusion of planetary health in medical education and professional training
• National standards for sustainable clinical practice
• Green procurement and waste reduction strategies
• Measurement and public reporting of carbon emissions from the healthcare sector
• Interdisciplinary collaboration in sustainable innovation and research
• Support for healthcare workers leading environmental change

����TV is committed to integrating sustainability principles into our own practices. We will continue to adapt our educational curricula, event operations, digital resource use and travel policies to reduce our environmental footprint. We will continue to engage in advocacy with other health colleges and organisations to amplify the voice of healthcare professionals in shaping environmental policy.

����TV also supports individual clinicians in their day-to-day decisions about resource use, anaesthetic gases or supply chains, and in efforts to initiate local sustainability projects and advocate for greener practices in hospitals. Seemingly small individual actions, when amplified across the health system, can drive significant change.

Climate change is not a distant threat. It is a lived reality for many of our patients today and it will be an even greater burden for future generations if we fail to act. RANZCOG asserts that climate action is essential, ethical and urgent. Protecting planetary health is fundamental to protecting reproductive, maternal and neonatal health gains made in recent times.

References

1. Chersich, M. F., Pham, M. D., Areal, A., Haghighi, M. M., Manyuchi, A., Swift, C. P., Wernecke, B., Robinson, M., Hetem, R., Boeckmann, M., Hajat, S., & Climate Change and Heat-Health Study Group (2020). BMJ (Clinical research ed.), 371, m3811.
2. Charlson, F., Ali, S., Benmarhnia, T., Pearl, M., Massazza, A., Augustinavicius, J., & Scott, J. G. (2021). International journal of environmental research and public health, 18(9), 4486.