19 January 2023
The NHS is the largest employer in the UK, responsible for around 4% of the nation’s Green House Gas emissions. We have a moral duty to reduce these and help deliver the UK’s carbon reduction goals.
The climate crisis also directly impacts on physical and mental health and could lead to further health inequalities in our communities.
Our Green Plan sets ambitious targets for reducing emissions and delivering sustainable healthcare.
Six key actions have been identified which:
- Appoint a Climate Change Adaptation lead – this person will be directly responsible for driving change within our trust and achieving our Green Plan targets
- List Climate Change on the Corporate Risk Register – this acknowledges the seriousness of the issue at the most senior level within the organisation
- Create an ISO14090 Climate Change Adaptation Plan – ISO is an independent, non-governmental international organisation. ISO plans are widely recognised as fitting in with the knowledge and opinions of worldwide industry experts.
- Factor Climate Change into existing health-related contingency planning – this makes Climate Change a direct consideration in health care, helping us adapt to the changing physical and mental health landscape and plan services accordingly.
- Incorporate climate-related health care risks such as Vector-borne Diseases into contingency planning – Climate change has the ability to make the spread of some diseases easier and this action will help us manage how this impacts on the people we care for and our colleagues.
- Make our supply chain more resilient to Climate Change – it is inevitable that climate change will cause disruption across all aspects of the supply chain. We will work in partnership with our suppliers to understand risks and adapt as needed.
A five-page summary of the plan has been produced which highlights the key actions and how we’ll improve our performance to 2025. To receive an electronic version of the plan email tewv.enquiries@nhs.net
You can also find out more from the short video below:
