Government action
Policy for climate and health
Momentum is building toward net-zero, climate-resilient health care
While the private and public sectors need to take climate action, the scale of the crisis requires in-depth, long-lasting, and rapid decarbonization carried out by government policy, laws, and regulations across all sectors. The health care sector is no exception, with a global greenhouse gas contribution of 4.4%. More than 60 governments, making up more than 47% of net global health care emissions, have committed to low-carbon, climate resilient health systems.
Health Care Without Harm is working with several governments in high and low-middle income countries to support and model the implementation of net zero, climate resilient health systems. In 2021, Health Care Without Harm played a leadership role in founding the COP26 Health Programme alongside the Conference of the Parties (COP) Presidency, the WHO, Greener NHS, and the UNFCCC Climate Champions team.
The Programme aims to build more robust country ambitions on climate emissions reduction and resilience with a leading cohort of health ministries committed to health care climate action. The two commitment areas are:
At the Programme’s launch, over 50 ministries of health committed to these goals. In 2022, The Programme evolved to help guide the implementation of the pledges and is now the Alliance on Transformative Action on Climate and Health (ATACH).
As of February 2023, 63 countries committed to one or both of the commitment areas of this initiative, with 23 committing to a net zero target. ATACH facilitates the WHO Member States and other stakeholders to advance implementation and integrate climate change and health nexus into national, regional, and global plans. Four working groups provide guidance and an opportunity for health ministry to work and learn from each other.
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Financing the Health Commitments on Climate Resilient and Sustainable Low Carbon Health Systems.
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Climate Resilient Health Systems.
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Low Carbon Sustainable Health Systems.
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Supply chains
Health Care Without Harm participates in all working groups and co-chairs, along with the government of Fiji, the Low-carbon Sustainable Health Systems working group.
The urgency of the climate crisis has spurred more health ministries and government institutions to advance on the road to health care decarbonization and resilience. In addition to the countries involved in ATACH, G7 health ministers declared their aim “to build environmentally sustainable and climate-neutral health systems at the latest by 2050 and to support other countries in this effort.” The G7 comprises 41% of global health care climate emissions. Its parallel commitment to ATACH brings the total percentage of health emissions slated for decarbonization to almost 48% of all global health emissions.
Governments advancing implementation
In 2022, the Ministry of Health and Social Protection of the Republic of Colombia and Health Care Without Harm signed a memorandum of understanding to work together to estimate the climate footprint of the Colombian national health system at the facility level.
The project has three main components:
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Identifying a representative sample of hospitals and health centers in the Colombian health system.
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Training health institution teams using Health Care Without Harm’s Climate Impact Checkup GHG calculator.
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Technical support to help the institutions determine the size and composition of their climate footprint.
The data obtained from this pilot will be analyzed to estimate greenhouse gas emissions from the Colombian health sector at the national level. Based on the findings, a series of specific recommendations will help develop a Comprehensive Sectoral Climate Change Management Plan (PIGCCS) for the Colombian health sector. With the completion of the project, Colombia will be the first country in Latin America to estimate the GHG footprint of its national health system, including both public and private institutions.
Health Care Without Harm is working with several G7 governments and health systems to support the implementation of the commitments made at COP26 and the G7 declaration. Through Operation Zero, Health Care Without Harm is working closely with several EU governments, The Netherlands, the Lazio region in Italy, and Portugal, to develop the methodology and tools to measure their health system GHG emissions and design road maps to reach zero emissions.
The government of Argentina included a commitment to estimate its health system’s emissions and define reduction measures in its Nationally Determined Contribution. England’s NHS has developed a plan to get to net-zero by 2040. The state of Chhattisgarh in India is investing in solar power for all its hospitals and health centers. These leadership actions indicate that climate-smart health care policies and actions are emerging on every continent and are viable and achievable.
International agencies are essential in supporting national and subnational governments to make emission reduction commitments. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has developed a set of climate pathways that outline the sectoral visions for a 1.5-degree climate-resilient world by 2050 and the actions needed to achieve that future. The World Health Organization (WHO) provides policy and technical guidance to ministries of health, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, where the transition to low carbon health care and resilience must occur in unison with addressing urgent health needs, including Universal Health Coverage. Numerous bilateral and multilateral development cooperation agencies are beginning to invest in transforming health care to meet the challenges of the climate crisis.
In the midst of the pandemic, we had to recover from extreme weather events and manage the resulting health impacts. [It] has shown us that health systems and facilities are the main line of defense in protecting populations from emerging threats … and that now is the time to increase our commitment to a safer, and more sustainable and inclusive future for all.