Discussions
This paper describes the climate change and indigenous health and well- being of Aboriginals and Torres islander people of Australia. This will lead us to the understandings of the climate change and its devastating impacts on the Aboriginals and Torres Islanders facing in the island. Aboriginals and Torres islanders are the vulnerable community of Australia facing several social, environmental and many other issues which is needed by the Australian Government to look upon the issues and address those issues appropriately for their community. Impacts of climate change is affecting their livelihood, traditional food, shelter, healthcare, emotional well- being and overall health drastically (Lee & Ride, 2018). They are suffering from fear, and scare of losing their lands of home and living which may become a history one day. As they being the frontline in those islands, they have to face everything everyday, which is quite traumatising for them and their community from the aspect of emotional, mental health and well- being (Lee & Ride, 2018).
Aboriginals and Torres Strait islanders are getting badly impacted with rising sea levels, extreme weather as well as coastal erosion, affecting many inhabited islands (Pearce et al., 2018). They have ancestral connections in these islands which tie them back to this land. They are dependent for their food and shelter from these islands. But due to climate change, this is increasingly getting abandoned. Aboriginals and Torres Islanders urges to do something more to address the climate change, from the Australian Government. They believe their human rights are getting violated due to the impacts of climate change and becoming history gradually. It is quite traumatising for them and their community. Human health is relatable with the eco- system; hence this is an urgent need to strengthen the climate change issue raised by Aboriginal and Torres islander people. An urgent balance and incremental change in action is mandatory to perpetuate the existing lives of those islands. Other underlying reasons for the impacts of climate change are: due to Global warming, increased seasonal temperatures, warm oceans, sea ices are melting, intensified cyclones and events of heavy rainfall along with multiple floods leading to the loss of biodiversity and which in turn plants and animal range of habitats are gradually shifting (Bakare et al., 2020). Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders are generally suffering from the long-term health conditions which includes diabetes, heart disease and kidney disease (AIHW, 2020). People of this communities are more prone to suffer from these conditions, they also suffer from infectious disease, food poisoning and other water- borne disease; also have poor access to the healthcare services (AIHW, 2019a).
Torres Strait Islands are getting low- lying, where in sea levels rising to 6-8 mm every year; and this leads to more flooding and coastal erosion; which in turn they are suffering the impact of climate change (Tschakert et al., 2019). During floods, when remains of the dead bodies of their closed ones are noticeable on the island, it is quite heart- breaking for them and it impacts their emotional health and well- being. Government must address the issue of climatic change along with their fundamental rights of culture and basic life of Aboriginals and Torres Islanders. Though, Human Rights Committee has now come forward to support their rights because of their vulnerable state due to climate change, hence it is their expectancy to achieve their human rights of livelihood in those islands which is getting impacted due to high emissions which must be reduced by Australia, not alone but considering it as a Global problem. To mitigate these climate change issues, few imperative actions can be taken by Australian Government, i.e., diminishing CO2 through plantation or vegetation and soil binding, land management practices such as strategic fire management that can help to prevent bushfires and reducing emission of greenhouse gases; initiating carbon sequestration that helps to removes carbon with the aid of revegetation of the cleared areas and also by improving practice of agricultures (Matthews et al., 2021).
Conclusion
During extreme summers, bush fire in Australia leads to multiple adverse effects of flooding and drastic level of ill health, stress as well as hardships, Aboriginals and Torres Islanders are facing. Already due to colonisation, traditional land and their sacred waterways are vanishing slowly which creates a suppression of their cultures, basic rights and empowerment (Matthews et al., 2021). Climate change is creating a historical injustice for their community. Originally, they were taking care and maintaining the biodiversity and natural habitat, over several generations, which they are losing slowly, destroying their communities. Though Aboriginals and Torres islanders are habituated and adapted with the frequent several changes of climate over millennia (Nursey et al., 2019); strategies of adaptation planning for climatic change may help this community to adjust and cope up with the impacts due to global warming. From the perspectives of climate change, a ‘two- way seeing’, i.e., combining Aboriginal and Torres Islanders knowledge with that of western Science to address the approaches of mitigation and adaptation, providing an immediate opportunity. Adaptive capacity generally includes health status, socio- economic factors, geographic locations for example: coastal areas which are low- lying and remote areas (Hall & Crosby 2020; Nursey et al., 2019). Cultural and social determinants are important from the aspect of adaptive ability as it strengthens the well- being relationships with the country, kinship, family, communities, practicing languages, spiritual beliefs, self- healing, traditional knowledge, traditional food habits and self- determination (Salmon et al., 2019). Aboriginals and Torres islanders are considered as the traditional as well as historical community as they are existing across several generations, observing the changes occurring in the country very closely (Nursey et al., 2019). There biocultural knowledge of monitoring, recording and communicating the observed ecosystems differs from the science of western climate, which brings observations across timeframes of geological aspect as well as fine- local scale (Matthews et al., 2021).
Though, there are several solutions in regards of the climate issue that have been addressed by the local community. Those are: carbon reduction programs, for which Government needs to look into the policies and programs which could empower the other communities, local or distant, so that they could implement the solutions and take necessary action on the climate change issue (Matthews et al., 2021). For maintaining the dignity, well- being and safeguarding the survival of this indigenous community, the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous people (2007), which was supported by Australian Government, have set a minimum standards and basic rights for them. In order to possesses self- determination rights, rights to housing, food, water and overall health and well- being is directed by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (Matthews et al., 2021).
Conclusion
Therefore, this can be concluded that, as per Australian Government statement, Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders are being trying to help them out from the climatic change aspect and is well aware of the impact of risks and letting them prepare for the climate change. Only focusing on the climate change action, mitigation and adaptation alone will not serve the purpose for their communities; rather justice for the climate factors also includes cultural and social determinants of their well- being and overall health, must be the urgent goal for their communities.
References
AIHW 2019a, Rural & Remote Health, Cat. no. PHE 255, AIHW, Canberra. Retrieved on 31 August 2021 from: https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/rural-remoteaustralians/rural-remote-health
AIHW 2020, Australia’s Health 2020: In brief, Australia’s health series no. 17, Cat. no. AUS 232, AIHW, Canberra. https://www.aihw.gov.au/getmedia/2aa9f51b-dbd6-4d56-8dd4-06a10ba7cae8/aihw-aus-232.pdf.aspx?inline=true
Bakare, A. G., Kour, G., Akter, M., & Iji, P. A. (2020). Impact of climate change on sustainable livestock production and existence of wildlife and marine species in the South Pacific Island countries: a review. International journal of biometeorology, 64(8), 1409-1421. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00484-020-01902-3
Hall, N. L., & Crosby, L. (2020). Climate change impacts on health in remote indigenous communities in Australia. International Journal of Environmental Health Research, 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1080/09603123.2020.1777948
Pearce, T. D., Rodríguez, E. H., Fawcett, D., & Ford, J. D. (2018). How is Australia adapting to climate change based on a systematic review? Sustainability, 10(9), 3280. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10093280
Lee, A., & Ride, K. (2018). Review of nutrition among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Perth, Australia: Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet. https://www.healthinfo.net.au/health-risks/nutrition
Matthews, V., Atkinson, A., Lee, G., Vine, K., & Longman, J. (2021). Climate Change and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health [Ebook] (p. 72 Pages). Lowitja Institute. Retrieved 3 April 2022, from https://www.lowitja.org.au/content/Image/Lowitja_ClimateChangeHealth_1021_D10.pdf.
Nursey-Bray, M., Palmer, R., Smith, T. F., & Rist, P. (2019). Old ways for new days: Australian Indigenous peoples and climate change. Local Environment, 24(5), 473-486. https://doi.org/10.1080/13549839.2019.1590325
Salmon, M., Doery, K., Dance, P., Chapman, J., Gilbert, R., Williams, R., & Lovett, R. (2019). Defining the indefinable: Descriptors of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples’ cultures and their links to health and wellbeing. Lowitja Institute. https://apo.org.au/node/264456
Tschakert, P., Ellis, N. R., Anderson, C., Kelly, A., & Obeng, J. (2019). One thousand ways to experience loss: A systematic analysis of climate-related intangible harm from around the world. Global Environmental Change, 55, 58-72. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2018.11.006
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