Miscellaneous

This article was published in  the  J O U R N A L  O F   T H E   R O Y A L  S O C I E T Y   O F   M E D I C I N E ,
  V o l u m e  1 0 0 ,  A u g u s t,   2 0 0 7, page 355.
We acknowledge permission to publish this letter.
The letter should be read in conjunction with the article below. We are proud of the work that DEA members have done on this important issue. The authors are from Doctors for the Environment Australia, Medical Association for the Prevention of  War, and the Presidents of their two parent bodies International Physicians for the Prevention of  War, and International Society of Doctors for the Environment.

Cleaning up a dirty business: the successful campaign (2005-2007) to force the publisher of the Lancet to divest itself from the arms trade
 by Colin Butler, colin.butler@anu.edu.au

Introduction by David Shearman
"This article should be read in conjunction with the the letter  posted above
It is an inspiring story of decisions  forced upon the recalcitrants by  the activism of NGOs and  professional organisations. DEA is proud that its Committee members have been involved"

Reed Elsevier and its role in promoting sales of arms and torture equipment

In July 2005 two DEA members Michelle Allen and Nick Towle left Brisbane on an epic cycle journey down the east Coast of Australia, taking education for sustainability to schools and community members between Brisbane and Hobart, where the journey finished in mid December. The early part of this journey was reported on this page below. The report is from Nick Towle, member of the Management Committee, DEA.

Our aim was to promote sustainable ways of living to as many people as possible. Throughout our journey we carried Gandhi's philosophy of 'be the change you wish to see in the world' and drew much inspiration from The Otesha Project, a Canadian team undertaking similar projects (Otesha - Swahili for 'reason to dream'). In total we rode approximately 4800km, presenting and performing our comical theatre to over 3000 school students. It was most inspiring to spend time with young people after our presentations to hear about their own endeavors, small meaningful actions such as creating a recycling campaign in their school or making compost in their back yard.

The Climate Action Network Australia (CANA) recently held their annual conference in Melbourne, “Dangerous Climate Change: Together We Can Stop It”.

A number of presentations were made on the first day of the conference which was open to the public. Among other presentations there was a thought provoking discussion from Dr. Jon Barnett on the human insecurity impacts of climate change and “Impacts of climate change: water and drought in Australia” from Dr. Roger Jones of CSIRO.

» read more

Sir David King, the Chief Scientific Advisor to the British Government, who last year said that climate change is a far greater threat to the world than international terrorism, is in Australia reportedly on a diplomatic mission to Canberra to convince the Government to reconsider signing of the Kyoto protocol. He appeared on the ABC’s Lateline program refuting a number of myths about climate change, including that the veracity of the science behind it is still debatable, and that following a Kyoto pathway is detrimental to economic growth.

» read more

Manning Clark House organized a unique multidisciplinary conference entitled "Science and Ethics: Can Homo sapiens Survive?" at the Academy of Science in Canberra on 17-18 May, 2005. Drawing upon the expertise of speakers in a variety of fields including law, economics, medicine, politics, journalism, aboriginal affairs, earth sciences, religion, education, nuclear armaments, defence studies and ecology, the conference reached the conclusion that, while at risk from natural global disasters (supervolcanos or asteroid impact) and human-induced global impacts, Homo sapiens is likely to survive for the foreseeable future.

by David King, Member of the Management Committee, DEA

I was heartened to read the article on Eco Spirituality in the November 04 Australian Friend. It concluded with a challenge
“We have heard the call to put the health of the planet front-and-centre among Quaker concerns. Once again the Religious Society of Friends has the opportunity to play a leading role in one of the most crucial issues of our time.”
I sense that this process is still at a gestational stage in Australian Quakerism. How should we as a religious society engage with the issues of environmentalism, and give birth and nurture to this concern?

By Rowan Williams, The Archbisop of Canterbury
The Independent UK Sunday 17 April 2005

Too often in recent decades, the two big "e" words - ecology and economy - have been used as though they represented opposing concerns. Yes, we should be glad to do more about the environment, if only this didn't interfere with economic development and with the liberty of people and nations to create wealth in whatever ways they can.

Or, we should be glad to address environmental issues if we could be sure that we had first resolved the challenge of economic injustice within and between societies. So from both left and right there has often been a persistent sense that it isn't proper or possible to tackle both together, let alone to give a different sort of priority to ecological matters.

ENVIRONMENTAL LAWS LINED UP FOR REMOVAL BY NEW TRADE TALKS
GENEVA (Switzerland) / BRUSSELS (Belgium), April 18, 2005
Governments including Japan, Korea, Mexico and the United States are planning to use new World Trade Organization (WTO)negotiations to dismantle a wide range of national laws protecting the environment, social well-being and health, Friends of the Earth International revealed today.

A list compiled by this environmental group before trade negotiators meet in Geneva shows that legislation covering food, fisheries, timber and petroleum production, energy efficiency, chemical testing, recycling and standards in the electronics and automobile industries have all been raised as potential "barriers to trade" in the past few months.