HEALTH CARE LEADERSHIP FOR CLIMATE ACTION

1. Josh Karliner, International Director, Program and Strategy
Global Green and Healthy Hospitals Asia Conference
Taipei, October 20, 2017
Health Care Leadership for Climate
Action

8. Climate change amplifies existing health risks
• Heat-related illnesses and death
• Extreme weather-related injuries and
mortality
• Aggravated chronic illnesses
• Infectious diseases: vector -, zoonotic-,
water- and food- borne diseases
• Asthma, respiratory allergies, and chronic
respiratory disorders
• Malnutrition and child development
complications
• Stress-related and mental health
disorders
• Population displacement and migration
• Instability and conflict
8
Source:LivingWaterInternational/Flickrwww.water.cc
Source: Sabbir, Wikimedia Commons

9. CLIMATE CHANGE THREATENS TO
REVERSE HEALTH AND DEVELOPMENT
GAINS OF THE LAST 50 YEARS -The
Lancet

10. 10
“Health impacts will be disproportionately greater in vulnerable populations, including the
poor, the very young, the elderly and the medically infirm.” - WHO
“Countries that have contributed least to greenhouse-gas emissions will the first and hardest
hit by climate change.” - Dr. Margaret Chan, Director General WHO

19. Health care is NOT PREPARED for climate change

29. The Paris Treaty
• Framework for transition to a
low carbon economy.
• “The most important Public
Health Treaty of the 21st
century” --WHO
• “A landmark and a milestone
… But many more milestones
need to be added…in order to
implement and to realize the
full potential of the Paris
agreement.” –Patricia Espinosa,
UNFCCC

30. What is the role and the
responsibility of health care in
addressing the most profound
crisis of our time?
30

31. Health systems “can lead by example, advancing models of low-
carbon health care that improve access to health care services,
reduce occupational and environmental health risks and save
energy costs across high, middle and low-income settings.”

32. 2015:
By moving toward low-carbon health systems,
health care can:
• mitigate its own climate impact;
• become more climate resilient
• lead by example

34. Infrastructure Resilience
U.S. National Institute for
Environmental Health Sciences
report co-authored by Health Care
Without Harm.

35. Healthcare’s
global
carbon
footprint
2.6 billion
metric tons–
5 percent of
global
emissions

38. Yonsei University Health System
South Korea
Target: reduce GHG emissions 30% by 2020
• 23,000 metric tons of CO2e reduction in 2015
• Annual energy savings of $1.6 million
• BMS for monitoring, analyzing, and managing energy
use and GHG emissions
• Equipment improvements, large and small, around
hospitals contribute to carbon reductions
ü Heating and cooling management system, solar
powered streetlights, power saving mode on all
equipment from computers to escalators

39. Region Skane
Sweden
9 major hospitals
Regional low carbon strategy
Target: 100% Fossil Fuel Free by 2020
• No fossil fuel use in buildings
• No fossil fuel in transport
• No fossil fuel in electricity

40. Ambitious
2025 Goals
40

41. Bupa
Reducing Carbon Footprint
Targets 20% GHG reduction
• Australia – 4.5 MW solar
– saving 4,000 tonnes of CO2 – saves over
$1 million/year
• Spain - energy monitoring and management system,
efficient boilers, LED lighting, thermodynamic plates
for heating water and solar panels
• UK – in care homes, replaced boilers, controls,
Combined Heat and Power and solar panels –
reduced energy by 60%
Photo: energymatters.com.au

42. “Access to health care can be
enhanced and made more reliable
through
off-grid renewable energy systems.”

43. Solar panels/batteries provide all
power for hospital
• Includes power for x-ray and waste
autoclave
• Avoids power cuts from
unreliable power grid
• Power management enables use up
to 18 hours per day
Gunjaman Singh Hospital
Pithuwa Village, Nepal

45. Climate Smart Health
Systems
*Reduce health care’s
carbon footprint
*Build climate resilience
*Improve Access to
Health Care
*Promote Sustainable
Development

46. Climate-Smart Health Care
7 Key Elements
World Bank
1. Overall system design for coordinated care,
emphasis on local providers, and driven by public
health needs.
2. Building design and construction based on low
carbon approaches.
3. Investment in renewable energy and energy
efficiency.
4. Waste minimization and sustainable health care
waste management.
5. Sustainable transport and water consumption
policies.
6. Low carbon procurement policies for
pharmaceuticals, medical devices, food and other
products.
7. Resilience strategies to withstand extreme
weather events.

48. Latin America
477 Hospitals , 63 Health Care
Facilities, 38 Health Systems
and 15 Organizations,
representing the interest of
1723 Hospitals and Health
Centers.
Africa
46 Hospitals, 14 Health Care Facilities, 5
Health Systems and 2 Organization,
representing the interest of 1484 Hospitals
and Health Centers.
Asia
104 Hospitals, 3
Health Care Facilities,
8 Health Systems and
27 Organizations,
representing the
interest of 13469
Hospitals and Health
Centers.
Pacific
7 Hospitals, 21 Health Systems
and 8 Organizations,
representing the interest of
627 Hospitals and Health
Centers.
Europe
22 Hospitals, 1 Health Care Facility, 19 Health Systems
and 11 Organizations, representing the interest of
7253 Hospitals and Health Centers.
USA and Canada
GGHH’s implementation arm in the US,
Practice Greenhealth has 1,400 Hospital
members in the U.S. In Canada, GGHH
members include 1 Hospital, 5 Health Systems
and 2 Organizations representing the interest
of 1081 Hospitals and Health Centers.
Totals: As of September 2017, GGHH has 905 members from 49 countries
representing the interest of 28.077 Hospitals and Health Centers.
Global
1 Health System and 4 Organizations
representing the interest of 1040 Hospitals.
HCWH Regional Offices
Strategic Partners

50. GGHH (www.greenhospitals.net) is a project of Health Care Without Harm (HCWH)
ENERGY CLIMATE WASTE

52. International, National and
Sub-national policy

53. Purchasing and Investment
• Renewable Energy
• Energy Efficiency
• Clean, Sustainable
Transport
• Community
wellness and
sustainability

54. Leadership and Communications

56. Hospital Air Monitoring and Advocacy:
Case Study from Chennai – Huma Lung Foundation
#LowCarbonHealthCare

57. Hospital Air Monitoring and Advocacy:
Case Study from Chennai – Huma Lung Foundation
#LowCarbonHealthCare

58. A Vision for the Future

61. Change in Healthcare Catalyzes
Broader Change
61
Transforming
the Global
Economy
Transforming
Policy and Key
Markets –
Food,
Materials,
Energy, etc.
Transforming
the Health
Sector

62. Endorse the Call to Action Today!

63. Thank you!