The Newfoundland and Labrador committee of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE NL) represents more than 60 physicians and health professionals concerned about protecting the environment, recognizing that clean air, water, and land are essential to healthy lives. 

Chaired by Dr. Samantha Pomroy, CAPE NL is responding to the serious—and often devastating—impacts of heatwaves, wildfires, severe storms, and floods, which are occurring more frequently in the province. These extreme weather events are supercharged by climate change, caused primarily by burning fossil fuels. 

We’re raising public awareness and informing policymakers about the need to adapt our communities, including the health care system, to meet the growing challenges ahead. We recognize that the impacts of climate change and environmental damage are not distributed fairly across populations, and that Indigenous, rural, and low-income communities are hit the hardest, along with vulnerable groups such as seniors and people with disabilities. 

As Newfoundland and Labrador considers proposed energy and extraction projects, including more offshore fossil fuel drilling, CAPE NL will be there to provide rigorous, evidence-based information about the health effects—and health costs—associated with these choices.  

CAPE NL is located on the island of Newfoundland (Ktaqmkuk), the traditional and unceded territory of the Beothuk and the Mi’kmaq, and in Labrador, the homelands of the Innu of Nitassinan, the Inuit of Nunatsiavut, and the Inuit of NunatuKavut.

Our Initiatives

CAPE NL has recently:

• Been featured in an hourlong CBC radio panel on health and climate change in NL.
• Supported the province-wide phase-out of Desflurane, a potent greenhouse gas used in hospitals, establishing NL as the first province in Canada to do so.
• Given presentations to medical students at Memorial University, and supported their Green Week activities.
• Engaged with physicians and healthcare providers in wildfire-impacted communities to learn about their experiences.
• Consulted with leads for Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services’ environmental sustainability strategy work.