Health Promotion Journal of Australia 2011: 22 Special Issue S3 Editorials Addressing climate change through health promotion in Australia James A. Smith and Anthony Capon Guest Co-Editors of the Special Issue on Climate Change and Health Promotion Climate change is arguably the biggest global health threat of the 21 st Century. 1 While the spread of vector-borne diseases and the health impacts of extreme weather events dominate discussions about health and climate change, there are also a range of other issues that are central to the health promotion community. Concerns such as food security; 2,3 mental health; 2,4,5 Indigenous health; 2 and water quality 2 are increasingly familiar. It is also undeniable that a shared vision of most health promoters to achieve environmental sustainability and to promote health equity is challenged by the threat of climate change. 6-8 Health professionals are well positioned to address this threat, but action needs to be swift and sustained. As with many other public health problems, the health promotion community will need to tackle climate change impacts on a range of fronts. This will require multi-strategy health promotion interventions, capacity-building strategies and significant advocacy efforts. 8 Partnership development and cross-sectoral action inherent in effective health promotion work provide a suitable platform to have a stronger and united voice on the climate-health front. Yet, despite the urgency for action, there has been relatively limited discussion about the intersection between climate change and health promotion within Australia. This special issue of the Health Promotion Journal of Australia aims to provide some practical guidance in this regard. It also aims to promote further dialogue and a deeper understanding about addressing climate change through health promotion action. In Australia, there are unique challenges to addressing climate change with respect to health and wellbeing. Perhaps the most important is to raise public awareness of the link between health and climate change. However, climate politics in Australia has over- shadowed this dilemma. The health implications of climate change have been given a relatively low priority in the midst of the Australian Government abandoning the introduction of a carbon emissions trading scheme and announcing its intention to introduce a carbon tax. Rallies and advocacy efforts, both for and against action on climate change, have divided Australian opinion on this topic at a population level. Despite this division, the Australian Government finally managed to get legislation passed through the Senate to establish a national carbon tax. This bill was passed on 8 November 2011 and will be introduced on 1 July 2012. Optimistic health promoters would consider the introduction of the carbon tax as a sign that action on climate change is an important political endeavour of the current Australian Government. While this marks a blow to the This Special Issue is produced by the Australian Health Promotion Association with sponsorship from the National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility . The National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility hosted by Griffith University is an initiative of, and funded by, the Australian Government, with additional funding from the Queensland Government, Griffith University, Macquarie University, Queensland University of Technology, James Cook University, the University of Newcastle, Murdoch University, University of Southern Queensland and University of the Sunshine Coast. The role of the National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility is to lead the research community in a national interdisciplinary effort to generate the information needed by decision-makers in government and in vulnerable sectors and communities to manage the risks of climate change impacts. www.nccarf.edu.au The Editors are pleased to present this special issue on Climate Change and Health Promotion as a supplement of the Health Promotion Journal of Australia in 2011. The impetus for the issue came from James Smith, Vice President of the Australian Health Promotion Association and Child and Family Leader at the West Arnhem College, and Tony Capon, from the National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health at the Australian National University. As Guest Editors, James and Tony generated the interest that has led to the diverse papers included here. We thank them for their work in producing an issue that we consider to be informative, provocative, and timely. Ben Smith Editor-in-Chief