AFTER working solidly for 3 years over the COVID-19 pandemic without a proper holiday, my husband and I decided to fly to Europe over the winter of 2022 to catch up with relatives and enjoy a well deserved break.
But the decision did not come lightly for me. An international flight to Athens followed by several domestic flights to the islands made me reflect on my own carbon footprint. The effects of climate change are happening now and harming our planet, and consequently impacting human health.
Feeling guilty, I managed to convince my husband to travel within Greece by public transport and hire e-bikes whenever we could. The decision was great – the slower pace of travel allowed us to enjoy more; with our e-bikes we were able to access smaller villages, quieter beaches, forests and other parts of the islands where hired vehicles had to endure traffic, competition for parking, and hazard risk driving through single lane village roads.
These simple measures allowed us to feel a lot more comfortable knowing we had reduced our carbon footprint during our travels, but there is more room for improvement.
We all dream of travelling and discovering. However, unfortunately, tourism is contributing to 8% of the world’s carbon emissions and is projected to grow (here, here). Most of this footprint is from visitors from higher income countries.
What more can we do as a medical profession to reduce our carbon footprint during travel?
Medical conferences can attract hundreds of health practitioners from all over the world. The travel we choose is contributing to the climate problem we are facing. InSight+ has published several articles on how we can reduce our carbon footprint in health care systems. But what about travel to work, lectures, conferences and medical events, even locally within Australia and internationally?
The COVID-19 pandemic gave us the gift to rapidly move to e-learning and telehealth. Even though we value the interaction and deep connection we develop with colleagues at conferences, we have to be much more cautious of our carbon footprint as we are challenged by the climate emergency, now well recognised by the peak medical bodies.
The evidence about the fossil fuel emissions of passenger vehicles, particularly cars, and aircraft is well known and incontrovertible.
Passenger vehicles significantly contribute to overall greenhouse gas emissions. It is estimated that a typical passenger car that relies on fossil fuel such as petrol, gas or diesel will contribute to at least 4.6 metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) per year, but this may vary according to the type of fuel and frequency of vehicle use. The more vehicles on the road, the more tons of CO2 released into the environment. Automobiles also produce methane and nitrous oxide from their tailpipes. Hydrofluorocarbon emissions are released from leaking air conditioners. These emissions all contribute to global warming. By contrast, electric and hydrogen vehicles do not release tailpipe emissions, apart from water vapour from hydrogen vehicles.
Commercial aviation operations in 2018 resulted in 918 million metric tons of CO2 being emitted into the atmosphere and contributed to 2.4% of the global CO2 emissions from fossil fuel use. Between 2013 and 2018, there was a 32% increase in aviation emissions. Furthermore, aviation emissions release other gases such as nitrous oxides, vapour trails, and cause cloud formation triggered by altitude, that further contribute to the warming effect. Rapid increase in passenger numbers using air travel, especially with our growing population and flights becoming cheaper, will further increase greenhouse gas emissions.
Trains are a preferable choice of travel if possible. Trains release less carbon emissions than flights and passenger vehicles and are proving to be popular in many countries such as China, especially the use of high speed trains to commute from city to city. The majority of passenger rail transport activity in the world uses electric trains.
What can we do to help minimise our carbon footprint when we decide next to travel for pleasure, education or work purposes?
Over the COVID-19 pandemic, telehealth was rapidly adopted by the medical profession for consultations. Education events, lectures and even workshops have been delivered through telehealth or video conferencing. Most meetings and events were held via teleconferences during lockdown. They worked well, in my experience.
Conferences that went ahead during the pandemic were either held entirely online or as a hybrid model. Is there any reason why we need to go back to international conferences that are entirely in-person, with no online participation?
As role models, medical professionals play a vital role in this space. The pressure is on the for all of us to act urgently to rapidly address and mitigate the causes of climate change by reducing our carbon footprint.
The Victorian Government recently announced a big step forward in our renewable energy ambitions to include a renewable energy target of 95% by 2035, an emissions reduction target of 75–80% by 2035, and a publicly owned energy corporation. If delivered, these have to be positive steps forward for all states to take on board in our challenge to address climate change.
Associate Professor Vicki Kotsirilos AM is a GP with over 35 years of clinical experience.
The statements or opinions expressed in this article reflect the views of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official policy of the AMA, the MJA or InSight+ unless so stated.
Subscribe to the free InSight+ weekly newsletter here. It is available to all readers, not just registered medical practitioners.
If you would like to submit an article for consideration, send a Word version to mjainsight-editor@ampco.com.au.
But the decision did not come lightly for me. An international flight to Athens followed by several domestic flights to the islands made me reflect on my own carbon footprint. The effects of climate change are happening now and harming our planet, and consequently impacting human health.
Feeling guilty, I managed to convince my husband to travel within Greece by public transport and hire e-bikes whenever we could. The decision was great – the slower pace of travel allowed us to enjoy more; with our e-bikes we were able to access smaller villages, quieter beaches, forests and other parts of the islands where hired vehicles had to endure traffic, competition for parking, and hazard risk driving through single lane village roads.
These simple measures allowed us to feel a lot more comfortable knowing we had reduced our carbon footprint during our travels, but there is more room for improvement.
We all dream of travelling and discovering. However, unfortunately, tourism is contributing to 8% of the world’s carbon emissions and is projected to grow (here, here). Most of this footprint is from visitors from higher income countries.
What more can we do as a medical profession to reduce our carbon footprint during travel?
Medical conferences can attract hundreds of health practitioners from all over the world. The travel we choose is contributing to the climate problem we are facing. InSight+ has published several articles on how we can reduce our carbon footprint in health care systems. But what about travel to work, lectures, conferences and medical events, even locally within Australia and internationally?
The COVID-19 pandemic gave us the gift to rapidly move to e-learning and telehealth. Even though we value the interaction and deep connection we develop with colleagues at conferences, we have to be much more cautious of our carbon footprint as we are challenged by the climate emergency, now well recognised by the peak medical bodies.
The evidence about the fossil fuel emissions of passenger vehicles, particularly cars, and aircraft is well known and incontrovertible.
Passenger vehicles significantly contribute to overall greenhouse gas emissions. It is estimated that a typical passenger car that relies on fossil fuel such as petrol, gas or diesel will contribute to at least 4.6 metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) per year, but this may vary according to the type of fuel and frequency of vehicle use. The more vehicles on the road, the more tons of CO2 released into the environment. Automobiles also produce methane and nitrous oxide from their tailpipes. Hydrofluorocarbon emissions are released from leaking air conditioners. These emissions all contribute to global warming. By contrast, electric and hydrogen vehicles do not release tailpipe emissions, apart from water vapour from hydrogen vehicles.
Commercial aviation operations in 2018 resulted in 918 million metric tons of CO2 being emitted into the atmosphere and contributed to 2.4% of the global CO2 emissions from fossil fuel use. Between 2013 and 2018, there was a 32% increase in aviation emissions. Furthermore, aviation emissions release other gases such as nitrous oxides, vapour trails, and cause cloud formation triggered by altitude, that further contribute to the warming effect. Rapid increase in passenger numbers using air travel, especially with our growing population and flights becoming cheaper, will further increase greenhouse gas emissions.
Trains are a preferable choice of travel if possible. Trains release less carbon emissions than flights and passenger vehicles and are proving to be popular in many countries such as China, especially the use of high speed trains to commute from city to city. The majority of passenger rail transport activity in the world uses electric trains.
What can we do to help minimise our carbon footprint when we decide next to travel for pleasure, education or work purposes?
Over the COVID-19 pandemic, telehealth was rapidly adopted by the medical profession for consultations. Education events, lectures and even workshops have been delivered through telehealth or video conferencing. Most meetings and events were held via teleconferences during lockdown. They worked well, in my experience.
Conferences that went ahead during the pandemic were either held entirely online or as a hybrid model. Is there any reason why we need to go back to international conferences that are entirely in-person, with no online participation?
As role models, medical professionals play a vital role in this space. The pressure is on the for all of us to act urgently to rapidly address and mitigate the causes of climate change by reducing our carbon footprint.
The Victorian Government recently announced a big step forward in our renewable energy ambitions to include a renewable energy target of 95% by 2035, an emissions reduction target of 75–80% by 2035, and a publicly owned energy corporation. If delivered, these have to be positive steps forward for all states to take on board in our challenge to address climate change.
Associate Professor Vicki Kotsirilos AM is a GP with over 35 years of clinical experience.
The statements or opinions expressed in this article reflect the views of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official policy of the AMA, the MJA or InSight+ unless so stated.
Subscribe to the free InSight+ weekly newsletter here. It is available to all readers, not just registered medical practitioners.
If you would like to submit an article for consideration, send a Word version to mjainsight-editor@ampco.com.au.
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