Best Practice UK

Social and healthcare institutions must also play their part in mitigating the effects of climate change. The National Health Service (NHS) systematically surveys the footprint of the UK health system. For example, its 2019 data shows that 62 per cent of the health system’s greenhouse gas emissions were attributable to supply chains, 24 per cent to the delivery of long-term care and 10 per cent to the travel of patients, visitors and staff getting to work and back. According to a report by the global health NGO Health Care Without Harm (HCWH), the German health sector accounts for 5.2 per cent of total CO2 emissions. In the European Union, the figure is 4.7 per cent. The figures are derived – somewhat abridged – from OECD statistics using the MRIO approach (multi-region input-output modelling)1. They underline the high responsibility of the health sector for reducing the carbon footprint, but do not have the necessary depth for deriving practical measures.

Healthcare emissions, NHS England, The Lancet Planetary Health 2021