By Joshua Parker. Most people are surprised to hear that if industrialised healthcare were a country it would be the fifth-largest emitter of greenhouse gases on the planet. In 2019, the NHS was responsible for around 7% of England’s total carbon footprint; approximately 25 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent. We can already see the effects […]
Category: climate change
Healthcare professionals and disruptive climate protest – unjustified, or a professional responsibility?
By Ellen Tullo. The coordinated actions of Extinction Rebellion (XR) in 2019 and 2021 raised public consciousness about global failures to act on the climate emergency. Some of the methods employed by XR – road obstruction, non-permanent marking of private property and the breaking of windows – prompted a divergence of opinion on what degree […]
The carbon emissions of prescribing practices
By Cristina Richie. Health care has a carbon footprint, which contributes to climate change and climate change health hazards, like severe weather, flooding, tornadoes, drought, and anxiety. Carbon emissions come from health care structures and health care activities. Health care structures like hospitals and clinics rely on high-carbon use building materials, heat and cooling, water […]