Global Health Matters – Live Event Series

The Implications of Ireland’s Low Carbon Bill on Environmental and Public Health 

• Date:  Friday – June 25th, 2021
• Time: 1-2 pm Irish Time

The new Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Bill 2021 to accelerate Ireland’s contribution to mitigating the effects of climate change closed for consultation last month. Though the progress on the bill is welcome particularly in relation to binding targets for 2030 and 2050, concerns remain on some of the inherent weaknesses in terms of penalty enforcement to make sure government adheres to those targets.

This webinar examines the impact of health in relation to the bill: what are the health consequences of failing on targets? How well health has been integrated into climate action through this bill? How does the bill strengthen the framework for climate policy? What penalties could Ireland face if we miss our targets? 

Topics for Discussion:

In this live event, we hear from a range of speakers leading different aspects of work in this area . Topics include discussions on the EU response to climate change and preparations for COP 26; the climate and health nexus in general; adaptation versus mitigation and Ireland’s own model of integrating health in government policies. 

Moderators

• Niall Roche, Environmental Health Officer, Health Service Executive
• Nadine Ferris France, Executive Director, Irish Global Health Network

Speakers 

• Dr. Ina Kelly, Chair of the HSE Public Health Medicine Environment and Health Group
• Dr. Tim Collins, CEO of the Irish Heart Foundation
• Dr. Diarmuid Torney, Associate Professor, School of Law and Government at Dublin City University

• Anne Stauffer, Deputy Director, Health and Environment Alliance (HEAL)

SPEAKER DETAILS

• Dr Ina Kelly studied Medicine in NUIG, trained in General Practice in the Australian Family Medicine Programme and later did Higher Specialist Training in Public Health Medicine in Ireland and in the WHO in Geneva.  She is Chair of the HSE  Public Health Medicine Environment and Health Group, and prior to Covid-19 her main areas of work included climate change adaptation, given the massive potential health impacts of this 21st Century existential threat.  She represents Health on the Adaptation Committee of the Climate Change Advisory Council, is a member of the National Adaptation Steering Group of the DECC; and is the climate change medical spokesperson in the RCPI. Ina was a contributor to the Climate Change Adaptation Plan for the Health Sector (2019-2024). 

She is an advocate for the implementation of WHO recommendations on Environmentally Sustainable Health Services and in particular “prioritizing disease prevention, health promotion and public health services”.  She is committed to strengthening Public Health Medicine and is President of the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) 2021/2022. 

• Dr. Diarmuid Torney is an associate professor in the School of Law and Government at Dublin City University. His research focuses on climate change politics and governance. He is a lead author of Ireland’s first Five Year Assessment Report on climate change, which has been commissioned by the Environmental Protection Agency and will be published in 2023. He teaches on DCU’s MSc in Climate Change: Policy, Media and Society.   
• Anne Stauffer is HEAL’s Deputy Director, Strategic Lead. She leads HEAL’s activities on climate change, energy and air quality and provides strategic input for HEAL’s organizational development, advocacy and engagement of stakeholders across the European region. She has 10+ years of working on environmental health issues and has led HEAL’s members and partners advocacy on key policy files including the EU’s Environmental Action Programme (7 EAP), the National Emissions Ceilings Directive (NEC – on air quality) and EU-Parliament climate resolutions.
• Tim Collins was appointed CEO of the Irish Heart Foundation in 2017. A former GP, Tim was Chief Executive at Newstalk radio station from 2015 to 2017. Prior to this, he was Chief Executive at North West Broadcasting from 2004 to 2015. Between 1990 and 1997 he acted as Special Advisor to Government Ministers Mary Harney and Brendan Howlin at the Department of Health and the Department of the Environment, befo re going on to become Director of Public Affairs with Drury Communications until 2003. He qualified as a barrister in 2005 and in 1983 graduated in medicine from Trinity College Dublin. He completed specialist postgraduate training in general practice before working as a GP in Ireland and Australia. During that period, he also served as Vice-President of the Irish Medical Organisation.

Resources 

• https://www.hse.ie/eng/services/list/5/publichealth/publichealthdepts/env/  
• https://www.gov.ie/en/campaigns/708481-climate-change-adaptation-plan-for-the-health-sector-2019-2024/  
• https://www.euro.who.int/en/health-topics/Health-systems/public-health-services/publications/2017/environmentally-sustainable-health-systems-a-strategic-document-2017