The RANZCOG Environment and Sustainability Working Group (ESWG) formed in late 2024. The group has two main focus areas. The first is to advise on practices and strategies for environmental sustainability within the College and the O&G profession. The second is to highlight the connections between environmental issues and women’s health and to develop relevant resources for clinicians and the community.

ESWG members will be contributing a short sustainability-themed article to each edition of the O&G Magazine. In this, our first article, Dr Michelle Van gives an overview of the connections between climate change and women’s health and goes on to discuss an effective action that any of us can take: healthy investing.

Introduction

It is abundantly clear that climate change is having a destructive impact on human health and that its effects will continue to be borne, and amplified, in future generations. Extreme heat and weather events, increased transmission of vector borne diseases, and food and energy insecurity are caused by climate change and are major threats to human health.¹ The implications for global women’s health are particularly grave – this is a population group more vulnerable to the direct effects of climate change and less able to mitigate its effects due to unequal economic access, higher rates of illiteracy, and cultural hierarchies.²

As the effects of climate change continue to escalate, we are witnessing the pathological effects of extreme weather events on rates of preterm birth, low birth weight and stillbirth; reduced access to reproductive healthcare (often the first service to be withdrawn at times of crisis); and increased gender-based violence.^{3, 4} Beyond the direct and indirect impacts of climate change, our ongoing reliance on fossil fuels has health consequences which disproportionately affect women. These include the greater exposure of women to air pollution associated with gas and fire stoves due to the division of domestic labour, and the increasingly documented health effects of microplastics and endocrine-disrupting chemicals on obstetric outcomes and fetal development.^{5, 6, 7}

This crisis is entirely preventable; while governments and corporations have not been adequately held to account, we must also recognise the role we play as individuals within a system that prioritises growth and profit over the health and wellbeing of others. The annual Lancet Countdown and Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports are a sobering read but to combat a problem, we need to honestly acknowledge its true extent and our contribution to the issue.

The issue is extremely complex, and no single action can fully address it – significant, ongoing, and sustained change within the broader community is required

The RANZCOG ESWG wants the issue of environmental sustainability and climate change to always be front of mind. We want to illustrate that many ways you can positively impact your community, and advocate that we, as privileged professionals, dedicated to enhancing health and wellbeing, have a responsibility to act.

Healthy investing

Adjusting our investment practices is a straight-forward action with potentially significant effects. This article does not constitute financial advice, but our money is one aspect over which we as consumers have direct control. We can change our banking institutions, superannuation investment choices, and energy providers if their practices do not align with our values.

As reported in the Lancet’s 2024 Countdown report, global energy related CO₂ emissions reached an all-time high in 2023 and the 114 largest oil and gas companies are projected to produce emissions that exceed 1.5°C of heating by 189%.¹ Unfortunately, knowingly or unknowingly, our money may be contributing to climate change when invested in these industries. Many Australians have accounts with the “big four” banks, which have lent AUD $3.6 billion to the fossil fuel industry in 2023, of which $2.5 billion was used to fund the expansion of coal, oil and gas projects.⁸

Meanwhile, the top 30 Australian superannuation funds have more than $39 billion invested in companies involved in fossil fuel expansion and the average investment option has nearly 9% of its members’ share investments in these companies.⁹ Three quarters of Australian energy usage is derived from fossil fuels and the “big three” Australian energy providers responsible for 63.2% of our electricity supply have been found to be the most obstructive with regards to provision of renewable energy commitment to ending coal use by 2030 and halting fossil fuel expansion.^{10, 11}

Divestment works by revoking the social licence for an industry to operate.¹² It also creates consumer demand, pressuring institutional investors to adopt climate transition plans and offer divested investment products. Tobacco divestment, now well established and vocally supported by the medical profession has resulted in states and multiple superannuation funds no longer investing in tobacco companies.^{13, 14} Whilst there is limited evidence for the impact of individual shareholder divestment in fossil fuels, we have a moral imperative to demand banks and superannuation funds stop financing existing and new fossil fuel projects. Medical organisations including RANZCOG, the Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP) and the British Medical Association have already taken this step.¹⁵

How to make the switch

Assess your bank’s position on fossil fuel investment and evaluate how much of your superannuation investment is exposed to fossil fuels. Market Forces is an organisation that provides clear, informative ratings for most major banks and superannuation funds. If their stance or investment options do not align with your values, contact them to advocate divestment or consider choosing a ‘socially responsible’ investment option if available. If their response is inadequate, move your business and inform them of your rationale for the change.

Similarly, review your energy provider’s progress in transitioning to renewable energy, engage with them directly if their performance is lacking and consider switching if their response remains unsatisfactory.

An alternative to divestment is shareholder activism which requires active participation at Annual General Meetings and engaging with companies directly to drive the change. Individual shareholders can increase their power by joining shareholder activist organisations which consolidate votes to propose shareholder resolutions.

As consumers, our financial choices do hold power, and we encourage readers to put their money where their mouth is and demand change from industries which are threatening human health.