Title: “Clean Energy for Healthy Environments and Lives: Climate, air quality and health co-benefits”
Abstract
In a year of climate extremes, there is increasing realisation that widespread reductions in greenhouse gas emissions across all sectors are needed
to limit global warming to 1.5oC or 2oC above pre-industrial levels. The decarbonisation of household energy is a key aspect of climate change
mitigation efforts in high-income as well as low- and middle-income countries. In Australia, roof-top photovoltaic panels are extensively used
mainly in suburban areas. Solar power covers approximately 16% of Australia’s electricity generation and is the fastest growing power generation
type in the country. However, remote Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory have benefited less from the penetration of photovoltaics
and still significantly rely on diesel generators for their domestic energy needs. In India, many rural communities rely on solid fuels and
increasingly on LPG, despite efforts to promote solar microgrids. A range of barries and enablers for the adoption of solar microgrids in India and
Australia have been identified as part of the Clean Energy for Healthy Environments and Lives Australia-India collaborative project. These
include financial, technical, administrative, and cultural issues that pause similar challenges in both countries. The potential air quality and health
co-benefits from the clean domestic energy transition are explored in this presentation in the context of international research collaboration and
knowledge exchange in climate change mitigation.
About the Speaker
Sotiris Vardoulakis is Professor of Environmental Public Health at the University of Canberra, Director of the HEAL (Healthy Environments And Lives) National Research Network, and Adjunct Professor at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras. He is co-Director of the Clean Air and Planetary Health in Asia (CEPHA) Network and the Clean Energy for Healthy Environments And Lives (CE4HEAL) partnership. Previously he was Director of Research and Head of the WHO Collaborating Centre on Occupational Health at the Institute of Occupational Medicine in Edinburgh, and before that Head of the Environmental Change Department at Public Health England. He also held academic positions at the Australian National University, the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and the University of Birmingham. Professor Vardoulakis’ main research interests include climate change, air pollution and health, sustainable cities, exposure assessment, health impact assessment, environmental epidemiology, and public health communication and policy. He was one of the lead authors of the first UK Climate Change Risk Assessment and contributor to the National Adaptation Programme. He served as a member of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE, UK) Public Health Advisory Committee on Air Pollution and of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health Working Group on Indoor Air Quality. He is a currently a Coordinating Lead Author of the UNEP Global Environmental Outlook (GEO-7) Air Chapter.
