Climate Change Webinars

Human, animal and environmental health are closely linked and interdependent and the same global environmental changes that drive biodiversity loss and climate change drive disease emergence. The rise in consumption and trade, driven by demand in developed countries and emerging economies, and demographic pressures, have led to a series of emerging diseases that originate mainly in biodiverse developing countries. Here I’ll describe how land-use change, agricultural expansion and intensification, and wildlife trade and consumption have led to disease emergence and how climate change will impact this in the future.

Professor David Hayman is Professor of Infectious Disease Ecology, Royal Society Te Apārangi Rutherford Discovery Fellow and Percival Carmine Chair in Epidemiology and Public Health in the School of Veterinary Science, Massey University. He co-directs the Molecular Epidemiology and Public Health Laboratory and directs the Massey Infectious Disease Research Centre. He co-authored an Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) Workshop Report on Biodiversity and Pandemics, is on the One Health High Level Expert Panel (OHHLEP), providing expertise to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH, formerly OIE), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Health Organization (WHO) and co-authored the WHO-convened first study of origins of SARS-CoV-2.

Practical steps to improve carbon footprints/sustainability of veterinary clinics.  Based on what we have learnt so far on our Climate Crisis Action journey at South Wairarapa Veterinary Services. 

Dr Jane Ough is a senior companion animal veterinarian at South Wairarapa Veterinary Services (SWVETS) and the NZVA Climate Change Ambassador. She is part of the advisory team for Veterinary Medicine Product Stewardship working to develop a recycling scheme that supports a circular economy. Jane became concerned about climate change in the mid 1990s when her two daughters were children. She gained a diploma in Environment and Sustainability in 2010 and planted a lot of trees. Jane and her partner have retired 2/3 of their small farm into a QE2 covenant which they are actively regenerating. She is also a founding member of the local catchment group. Jane works closely with her team at SWVETS to urgently reduce the green house gas emissions of the business, run it more sustainably and prepare for the worsening climate change challenges we are facing.