How Climate Change affects Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities
“Aboriginal” and “Torres Strait Islander” individuals in Australia remain vulnerable to the effects of climate change. Climate changes involves changes in climatic conditions, and rise in temperature, induced in natural or human centred ways. Human induced climate change affects the frequency and high-rated intensity of extreme events, like drought, cyclones and bushfires, consequently affecting human health. The remote location of the indigenous communities faces grave climatic dangers due to the Quality Of Infrastructure, isolated location, economic resources, pre-existing health vulnerabilities, limited transport and enabling resilience. Indigenous people are often required to relocate for their traditional lands becoming uninhabitable (Beller et al., 2017). This paper would give a description of the impact of changes appearing in the climate on the health and wellbeing of the people in Australia. It highlights the risks imposed on the people, adaptive initiatives, and mitigation strategies for strengthening the wellbeing of the indigenous people and communities.
Extreme environmental events would have adverse impacts on communities, increasing hardship, stress and ill health. Climate change compounds historical injustices, while disrupting the country’s cultural as well as social connections remaining central to health. Health services have issues to operate in extreme weather conditions for the increased demand and reduced workforce. The forces combine for exacerbating unacceptable levels of improper health within Torres Straits and Aboriginal populations. Before colonization, Australia comprised of above 250 nations representing broad cultures, where aboriginal people had unfettered food access and conducted sustainable management of their resources. Colonisation disrupted connections, caused land dispossession and social dislocation, language destruction and genocide (Schultz, 2020). Adverse physical health impacts resulting from alterations in the climate includes ”vector-borne diseases”, heat-linked disorder, waterborne as well as food diseases, respiration issues and multiple chronic conditions like kidney and heart failures. Excessive heat from bushfires, rise of sea-level and flood cause ‘cascading consequences’ in the community, resulting from modified natural systems, food insecurity and vector borne infections. Social system alterations entail workforce productivity of the workforce and employment, housing comfort, and delivery of health services. Non-tangible effects like loss of culture and connection affects the emotional wellbeing of these people. Strong emotional responses like suicide, depression, post traumatic stress can be caused for emerging causes of climate change as well as ecological grief (Middleton et al., 2020).
The surge in temperature would assist in reducing amounts of bush tucker and availability of native foods. Individuals living in coastal areas would face rising sea levels which would force them off the land. The connection of the Torres strait and aboriginal people to the country would result in social issues and poor mental health. Extreme events like floods and cyclones affect the infrastructures in the remote lands, where the prevalent communities have to cut off from services for long intervals of time. Country works as a fundamental health determinant which is foundational to the identity of these indigenous communities, their cultural practices and knowledge systems. Ultimate consequences of sea-level rise also causes forced episodes of migration, as forewarned by Torres Islander Communities. This adaptation occurs for the irrevocable damage and loss to health coming from permanent displacement (Ford et al., 2020). In addition to infrastructural changes, injuries and death, cyclones and floods challenges food security for supply chain disruption and crop destructions. Water supplies are also contaminated by sewerage and runoffs. Enhanced distribution of various mosquito-borne diseases can occur for geographical expansion of proper breeding conditions, increased humidity, flooding for stagnant water reservoirs, warm temperatures and rainfall.
The Adverse Physical Health Impacts of Climate Change on Indigenous Communities
Direct impacts on wellbeing and health include causes of high temperature where increased intervals of hot climate impacts the workforce and exacerbates chronic conditions. Increased hospitalizations result out of poor air quality and combined heat wave effects causing respiratory conditions. Low frequency of seasonal rainfall episodes predicts extended drought periods to occur in Southern regions of rangelands. Along with the agricultural as well as employment impacts providing economic shocks, it affects the mental health of rural populations including Aboriginal communities.
Adaptation, a key Australian strategy can cause management of issues and protection of the indigenous communities. Communities adapt to climate changes by setting up proper warning and evacuation services. strengthening buildings, early management of energy use, and instructing people regarding the importance of utilizing healthier reforms (Ford et al., 2020). Risks associated to climate alterations can include planting trees, management of feral animals, reducing the bushfires, and switching to renewable sources of energy like solar power. Adaptation planning would cause communities to prepare for various adverse consequences. The indigenous communities are already participating in mitigation and adaptation strategies for advocating nationally as well as internationally for their nation, such as “Seed Mob” or “Seed Indigenous Youth Climate Network” and where they can participate on the “International Indigenous People forum on climate change” (Hilder & Collin, 2022).
Recognition of threats of human interference with the system of the climate made the UN develop the “Framework Convention on Climate Change”. The universal membership of the convention compels nations to properly stabilise greenhouse gas concentration for various industrialized nations specifically, that contribute to past and current resources. The Australian commitment for lowering emissions up to 28% of the 2005 levels by the year 2030, will be inadequately viewed for limiting global warming, as per the “Paris Agreement Target of 1.5 C”. (Mengel et al., 2018). The “UN declaration on the Rights of Indigenous people” as encouraged by the government of Australia, affirms rights and sets standards for safeguarding the survival, dignity, and wellbeing of indigenous communities worldwide. This declaration also supports participation of the indigenous Islander people for exercising and planning the responses to climate changes. “The Native Title Act” of 1993 long with other state land rights and different culturally rich regimes regulate the activities undertaken to protect and uphold the rights of Torres Islander and Aboriginal populations, based on traditional customs and ancestral relationships (Altman, 2018). But this title does not allow economic or social development, along with commercial opportunities. Amends to the “Aboriginal Land rights Act” 1976 was passed without community consultation, where traditional owners could grant 99-year leases over townships and lands for promoting private investments (Altman & Pollack, 2018). The “NSW Aboriginal Land rights act” of 1983 established LALC’s for providing them with control of Aboriginal reserves or mission land for compensation and reconciliation due to historic dispossession (Wensing,2021). LALC’s, however, did not have technical expertise, knowledge or expertise to form and maintain roads, housing, and water. Analysing all the legislations and policies regarding restoration of justice and protection of interests and rights of Torres islander and Aboriginal communities, national frameworks would integrate meaningful leadership and participation. The nationally consistent and intersectoral approach of “Climate and Health Alliance” proposes a framework in favour of the government to include climate health and action changes, directing various policymakers to identify the significance of connection to the individual health and wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander. It ensures that the access to their traditional lands and attained respect for the “native title” underpins the standards of decision-making with respect to land utilization, as well as changes in land utilization. Encouragingly, the presentation of the “National Torres Strait Islander and Aboriginal” health-plan contains cultural and social determinants of health as integral aspects and prioritizes healthy environments, preparedness and sustainability.
Conclusion
The climatic actions on the health and wellbeing of indigenous communities in Australia, on an individual or community level need to present groundwork for building adaptive capacity. Restoration of the basic rights like efficient housing and access to sea, land and the country’s resources can be initiated as progressive measures. The legitimacy and value of biocultural knowledge within the climate adaptation planning should be focused on and strengthened. Stronger partnerships across health and environmental sectors can build in pre-existing scholarship in Torres Strait islander and Aboriginal land and sea management. The complexity observed in the nature of climate change would require stronger collaborations, after having assessed the grave impacts to substantially mitigate risks and address issues holistically.
References
Altman, J. (2018). Native Title Act 1993: implementation issues for resource developers. Canberra, ACT: Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research (CAEPR), The Australian National University. https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/bitstream/1885/145519/1/1995_DP88.pdf
Altman, J., & Pollack, D. P. (2018). Financial aspects of Aboriginal land rights in the Northern Territory. https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/bitstream/1885/145598/1/1998_DP168.pdf
Belfer, E., Ford, J. D., & Maillet, M. (2017). Representation of Indigenous peoples in climate change reporting. Climatic Change, 145(1), 57-70. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-017-2076-z
Ford, J. D., King, N., Galappaththi, E. K., Pearce, T., McDowell, G., & Harper, S. L. (2020). The resilience of indigenous peoples to environmental change. One Earth, 2(6), 532-543. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oneear.2020.05.014
Hilder, C., & Collin, P. (2022). The role of youth-led activist organisations for contemporary climate activism: the case of the Australian Youth Climate Coalition. Journal of Youth Studies, 1-19.
Mengel, M., Nauels, A., Rogelj, J., & Schleussner, C. F. (2018). Committed sea-level rise under the Paris Agreement and the legacy of delayed mitigation action. Nature Communications, 9(1), 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-02985-8
Middleton, J., Cunsolo, A., Jones-Bitton, A., Wright, C. J., & Harper, S. L. (2020). Indigenous mental health in a changing climate: a systematic scoping review of the global literature. Environmental Research Letters, 15(5), 053001. https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ab68a9/pdf
Schultz, R. (2020). Closing the gap and the sustainable development goals: listening to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, 44(1), 11-13. https://researchnow-admin.flinders.edu.au/ws/files/47722894/Shultz_Closing_P2020.pdf
Wensing, E. (2021). Unfinished business: truth-telling about Aboriginal land rights and native title in the ACT. https://australiainstitute.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/P1053-Unfinished-Business-in-the-ACT-Web.pdf
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