CERA recognises that climate change presents a major threat to future human health, including eye health.

The main health impacts for humans will be due to direct heat exposure, respiratory distress, air and water borne infectious diseases, and mental health related issues.

Extreme weather events will put pressure on healthcare resources. Millions of people are likely to be displaced, homeless and seeking refuge, which will place increased pressure on nations and health systems through refuge programs and international aid support.

Multiple studies have raised the possibility of climate change impacting eye health, with ocular surface diseases (such as conjunctivitis and dry eye) being most affected.

Higher particulate matter is adversely associated with most eye conditions. High temperatures and low rainfalls are likely to increase the incidence of trachoma.

Vitamin A, which is essential for good vision, is expected to become more deficient due to food scarcity, and rising UV exposure may result in more cataract cases.

Extreme weather events and natural disasters will result in an uptick in acute and prolonged eye injuries and disrupt the delivery of eye health services as they compete for other limited health resources.

Climate change can have indirect but significant effects on gender disparities in eye health due to its social, economic, and environmental factors impeding progress towards gender equality.

We recognise that our own research can impact the climate. If not well managed and offset, our facilities can have a negative effect on the environment, mainly due to the continuous energy consumption needed run a laboratory and the use of chemicals including liquid nitrogen and other gases.

We aim to progressively reduce our carbon footprint over the medium term and entirely remove our carbon footprint. Our immediate priorities in relation to sustainability include:

• Supporting the environment in which our staff live and work
• Engaging with like-minded philanthropic, commercial and industry partners
• Integrating climate change initiatives into collaborations and projects with other research organisations
• Striving to embed climate action decision making into commercialisation and translation of research, and
• Having headquarters at 200 Victoria Parade, East Melbourne, where ‘green operation’ practices are achievable. We have already achieved a 6 Star Green Star rating and are targeting 6 Star NABERS and gold WELL ratings.

CERA will integrate the 5 Rs (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Rethink and Reimagine) into daily activities by:

• Reducing waste
• Reducing energy consumption
• Encouraging conscious purchasing choices
• Using electronic communications where possible
• Choosing low emission options for travel, education, and administration
• Consulting health climate experts where required, regarding environmental management, change implementation, new builds, capital purchases and/or auditing
• Encouraging partnerships with like-minded stakeholders
• Considering the climate impact when developing study protocols, and/or the climate benefits of their research
• Embrace relevant ‘green’ frameworks, initiatives and/or auditing-accreditation programs where appropriate, within CERAs office base, laboratory, eye and biobank services, and clinical trials areas
• Promoting interventions and therapies that improve or reduce individual carbon impact, such as working from home arrangements and carpooling
• Developing a workforce and infrastructure that can respond to extreme climate change-induced events
• Reducing CERA’s carbon footprint and improving the sustainability by adopting more ecologically friendly building and infrastructure design
• Working with the medical research sector to take action and decrease environmental impact

CERA will maintain a Climate Action Committee to support the organisation to achieve its climate goals.

For more information about CERA’s Climate Action Committee contact Dr Heather Machin (hmachin@cera.org.au) or Sheridan Keene (slkeene@cera.org.au).