Climate Change and Healthcare: Creating a Sustainable and Climate-Resilient Health Delivery System

Abstract

Climate change poses global challenges as rising temperatures, recurring natural disasters, and the resulting increase in the prevalence of acute and long-term climate-related diseases threaten the health and safety of populations worldwide. The healthcare sector, one of the largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions globally, both exacerbates and suffers from these effects. As leaders in their local communities and the national economy, hospitals and health systems have a responsibility to not only build climate resilience to withstand disaster events but also implement sustainability initiatives that will reduce the healthcare sector's carbon footprint. A wide variety of initiatives that can meet all financial plans and timelines are available. This discussion focuses on three of the most impactful areas for opportunity: building resilience through community, operating room sustainability, and renewable energy sources.