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With financial support from The European Climate Initiative (EUKI), HCWH Europe launched a pilot project to support six European hospitals in measuring their carbon footprint, including greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the use of anaesthetic gases. During the project, (which ran until March 2018), HCWH Europe worked with hospitals from France, Germany, Poland, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden to measure emissions and share data.In order for the EU to meet its 2030 climate and energy package targets, countries must set national goals for different economic sectors. While healthcare makes up an estimated 5% of European GHG emissions, very few health systems have measured their carbon footprint or set emission reduction targets.To be able to set national and European targets for the healthcare sector, the sector must first track and measure its emissions. Very little data about...

Climate change impacts not only human health but also the delivery of health care and the ability of communities to rebound from extreme weather events and changes in disease prevalence. The most vulnerable – children, the elderly, persons with disabilities, low-income communities, and communities of color – bear a disproportionate burden of the impact and are the least equipped to recover. Hospitals on the front lines of the climate crisis must adapt both their infrastructure and service delivery to remain effective in the face of new threats. And they must explore the hospital’s role and investments needed to build resilience in their communities. Events over the past decade – such as Hurricane Katrina, Superstorm Sandy, and the Northern California Camp Fire – have demonstrated that many hospitals and communities are not prepared for new weather extremes and health needs.Our visionHealth Care Without Harm envisions hospitals serving...

Our objective is to ensure health systems are resilient to climate impacts and are actively supporting community climate resilience as anchor institutions.

HCWH Europe’s project helped develop the Mediterranean as a best-practice region for low-carbon healthcare in Europe supported by progressive environment and health policies.

Contact: Mireia Figueras AlsiusThe LIFE RESYSTAL project will address gaps in the European health systems’ climate resilience. This project will support improved climate vulnerability assessment of health systems as well as an improved understanding of the interdependencies between different infrastructures, e.g. transport, energy networks, telecommunications, and clinical services, to ensure a more secure and resilient health service provision. The project will also support investment decisions that consider and encourage climate change adaptation.BackgroundClimate change strikes at the very core of the healthcare sector’s mission to keep people healthy. Individual hospitals and entire healthcare systems are affected operationally, financially, and structurally by the rising frequency of extreme weather events. Even distant climate events can affect the health of local communities, e.g. smoke from wildfires can create significant and concentrated air pollution causing wide-reaching health impacts.Our health is intrinsically linked to...

Through inspiring films and stories, this series explores a new role for health care organizations as drivers of community collaboration enriching the health and well-being of the people they serve.

HCWH Europe's mentoring programme continues to support hospitals in Spain to integrate climate action into their healthcare planning.