Tackling climate change has never been more important – and the task at hand has never been clearer.
Tackling climate change has never been more important - and the task at hand has never been clearer.
In early autumn doomed by news of rising gas prices, there is certainly a lesson to be learned about the domino effect one issue can have on many others.
The global squeeze on gas and energy supplies has indeed led to the closure of two of the UK’s largest fertiliser plants, which has, in turn, caused a shortage of carbon dioxide usually produced as a by-product.
This ripple effect is not uncommon.
Climate change is already exacerbating issues across all areas of global economies – including our healthcare services.
With a polluted environment directly contributing to public health issues like respiratory diseases, exposing people to asthma and pneumonia, we can expect a heightened demand for care as global temperatures continue to climb. There is also a risk that supply will be reduced at the same time, particularly as staff become unwell.
Hospitals could also be faced with having to operate in higher temperatures whilst having to reduce their carbon footprints in line with commitments for a ‘greener NHS’ – which currently accounts for 5% of the UK’s total carbon emissions.
THE CHALLENGE AT HAND SHOULDN’T BE UNDERESTIMATED.
Innovators, clinicians, operational teams and consulting firms have been investing time, money and skills to answer that question – or at least taking steps towards doing so.
And the answer revolves around the hottest subject of the 21st century: ‘sustainability’. The notion of sustainability has transitioned over time, shifting from its earliest definition – “never harvesting more than the forest can generate1” – to becoming a more inclusive concept built on economic, social and environmental pillars.
In recent decades, the accelerated call for sustainability has seen many industries and companies around the world adapt to new and sustainable ways of doing business. We have seen fundamental changes to how people bank and shop, for example, with the rise of online capabilities leading to the disappearance of shops and banks from our high streets and the reduction in travel to city centres by car.
WE HAVE ALSO SEEN A COMMITMENT FROM THE UK GOVERNMENT TO ACHIEVE NET ZERO CARBON EMISSIONS BY 2050.
October 2020 saw the NHS publish a plan for “Delivering a ‘Net Zero’ National Health Service”’ – outlining a comprehensive plan for meeting a ‘world first’ target. The plan is comprehensive – providing a detailed account of modelling and analytics, interventions required, and trajectories to net zero, all coupled with the direction, scale and pace of change.
Two clear targets emerged from the net zero commitment and have been classified according to NHS’ control of emissions: