Australia “leaps backwards” on climate action, say critics

The Australian government’s repeal on 17 July of a carbon pricing mechanism has been condemned as a “monumentally reckless backward leap” and an “act of vandalism.”

Health and medical groups in Australia have warned that the repeal was a threat to population health, and the European Union’s climate action commissioner, Connie Hedegaard, issued a statement expressing regret.1

Fiona Armstrong, convenor of the Climate and Health Alliance, which represents 26 Australian healthcare groups, said that the move left the country without an effective …