The climate crisis is a health crisis. The climate and ecological emergency underpins all the social and environmental determinants of health. Climate action can have huge health benefits.
By ‘organisational’ we mean non-clinical, and 40% of the carbon footprint of primary care comes from these sources. There are some easy wins for taking action here.
Health inequalities are exacerbated by the climate crisis. People in poorer countries and communities bear the greatest burden of harms. And the drivers of the climate crisis and health inequalities are often the same.
Sustainable healthcare aims to work in partnership with patients and communities to improve health, whilst reducing the impacts of the climate and ecological crisis.
These cases are all people you might see in a normal surgery, but all have a planetary health connection. How many people that you’ve seen recently can you relate planetary health to their care?