Climate

How Healthcare Affects Climate Change

The largest contributor to greenhouse gases is the energy supply sector—estimated to generate 25.9% of worldwide greenhouse gases in 2007. The healthcare sector ranks as the number two commercial energy user in the United States after the food service industry, and the inpatient care facility is the healthcare sector’s largest energy consumer and largest GHG producer[i].  Hospitals use approximately twice the energy as office buildings of the same size, and roughly twice the amount of comparable European hospitals.[ii] A recent research letter in the Journal of the American Medical Association estimated that in 2007 the healthcare sector was responsible for 8% of total US greenhouse gas emissions, with hospitals owning the largest share of the contribution (39%), followed by prescription drug sector (14%)[iii]. The large scale energy use of the healthcare sector is having the unintended consequence of causing additional illness and disease that must then be addressed.

Hospitals generate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in a variety of ways, including:

• the energy they use;
• the emissions they release;
• the food they serve;
• the supplies they purchase;
• the waste they dispose of
• the structures they build; and
• the transportation footprint from commuting employees and fleet management—to name a few.

Health Implications of Climate Change

The American Public Health Association (APHA) recently recognized the threat of climate change to public health and issued a new policy statement on November 11, 2007. The APHA policy, entitled Addressing the Urgent Threat of Global Climate Change to Public Health and the Environment, states that the long-term threat of climate change to health is extremely serious and that GHG emissions are primarily responsible for this threat. Among other resolutions, the APHA resolves that the healthcare industry should be better educated about the impacts of climate change and adopt mitigation and adaptation strategies. The APHA resolves that healthcare professionals and organizations should implement mitigation strategies that minimize GHG emissions related to their activities as well as adaptation strategies to effectively address the resulting health consequences of the environmental damage occurring, including extreme weather events, expanding and shifting disease vectors, increased stress on already vulnerable populations (children, elderly, low income) etc.

The American Medical Association has also voiced its recognition of the long-term health implications of climate change, and the a 2009 report in The Lancet highlights many of the pending public health concerns related to climate change. Learn more about the health impacts of climate change from Health Care Without Harm.

Hospitals across the country—and around the world—are taking action to reduce their carbon footprints. From increasing energy efficiency to reexamining their food systems to analyzing their supply chains and transportation impacts, hospitals are finding ways to dramatically reduce their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Practice Greenhealth is working with its member hospitals to develop and/or identify robust measurement and tracking systems for GHGs and helping create the transition to a more sustainable long term energy solution. Learn more about:

• What is Climate Change?
• Tracking and Measuring Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions
• Best Practices in Carbon Mitigation
• Emerging Regulatory Oversight on Climate Change