SEMINAR: Law Occasional Research Conversations: "Happier, Healthier and Carbon Neutral Too? Active Transport and Climate Change"

Science tells us that human induced climate change is occurring and steps need to be taken to reduce global greenhouse gas (ghg) emissions. The imperative for doing so is predicated on the need to avoid the long-term consequences of global temperature rises. However, actions designed to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions to avoid these long-term affects also hold the promise of delivering a range of immediate and direct health co-benefits. In this respect, it is possible that climate change mitigation may also be a “good news” story for public health.

The personal transport sector serves as a case in point, offering a myriad of health co-benefits such as improved air quality, reduced road fatalities and, through active transport, increased levels of physical activity. However, these co-benefits will not necessarily follow simply because greenhouse gas mitigation strategy exists. Rather, using active transport in the Australian context as the example, this papers argues that mitigation strategies need to be explicitly designed to realise these health co-benefits if the synergies are to be exploited.