The healthcare sector, responsible for 4.6% of global emissions, faces an urgent need to reduce its carbon footprint and strengthen resilience against the growing impacts of climate change. Addressing this challenge requires action at all levels, from healthcare management to public authorities and individual staff. Healthcare facilities from across Europe have already undertaken this transformation, offering themselves as examples for the whole sector.
Leading by Example: Climate-smart Healthcare Solutions in Europe, our newly launched catalogue of case studies from the Global Green and Healthy Hospitals (GGHH) network in Europe, showcases best practices from Sweden, Spain, Poland, Austria, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom.
The initiatives included address key areas such as energy, pharmaceuticals, food systems, and infrastructure. Specifically, they provide valuable lessons on:
- Cutting the carbon footprint of asthma care
- Investing in green and sustainable infrastructure
- Implementing sustainable food practices in healthcare
- Integrating green strategies across hospital operations
- Reducing anaesthetics emissions
- Achieving net-zero direct emissions in healthcare
- Advancing circular resource management to reduce climate impact
These initiatives demonstrate that healthcare systems can significantly reduce emissions, enhance resilience, lower costs, and align with broader climate goals while continuing to provide quality care. Scaling up and replicating these practical solutions can help transform healthcare into a climate-smart sector.
Learn more about their successful examples by reading the full catalogue here.
And join our Global Green and Healthy Hospital Network to access the full documents.
If you want to share your best practices for sustainable healthcare, contact Ginevra Jesse, Policy Officer, at gjesse@hcwh.org.