ANMF, and in particular the Victorian Branch, has been spearheading health and environmental sustainability initiatives for over a decade. In recognition of our leadership in this space, ANMF has been chosen as the Australian partner of the Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change to highlight key policy priorities for climate and health in Australia ahead of the 30th United Nations Climate Change Conference.
The Lancet is best known as one of the world’s leading peer-reviewed medical journals. Every year its parent company, The Lancet Group, publishes the Lancet Countdown – an international, multidisciplinary collaboration of researchers working to ensure that health is at the centre of how decision-makers understand and respond to climate change.
On 29 October, the Lancet Countdown published its 9th annual report in The Lancet. The 2025 Global Report provides the most comprehensive assessment to date of the connections between climate change and health. Representing the work of 128 leading experts from 71 academic institutions and UN agencies globally, it provides critical insights and serves as a key resource in the lead-up to COP30 – the 30th UN Climate Change Conference, this year being held in Belém, Brazil, from 10–21 November.
For each annual report, the Lancet Countdown choose partners to represent country-specific policy priorities. ANMF was selected this year to develop the brief for Australia, as part of a broader national climate adaption and resilience campaign led by Renew Australia for All.
The ANMF Climate and Health Unit (CAHU) – formed earlier this year and comprising ANMF staff who hold climate and environment portfolios – has identified three priorities, which were revealed at the launch of the 2025 Global Report of the Lancet Countdown.
These priorities are:
- clean air: adopt a national clean air framework for health
- climate-ready healthcare: resource health and climate adaptation and resilience by funding the national health and climate strategy
- fair transition funding: revenue reform to release public spending from fossil fuel subsidies to reinvest in health
‘Being chosen as the Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change Australian partner is a huge honour, and recognises ANMF’s strong track record of working with members to not only respond to, but lead on the complex intersection of healthcare and climate change,’ said ANMF (Vic Branch) Environmental Health Officer Ros Morgan.
‘The Lancet Countdown has become one of the world’s most trusted mechanisms for linking climate science to health policy,’ added Federal ANMF Climate Change Officer Catelyn Richards. ‘This partnership strengthens ANMF’s ability to translate global evidence into local policy, ensuring that health is placed at the centre of climate action and that nurses and midwives have a voice in the climate policies that shape our shared future.’
