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Editorial
Reducing the environmental impact of healthcare to improve health, sustainability and equity
  1. Maria-Inti Metzendorf1,
  2. Eva Madrid2,
  3. Erik van Raaij3
  1. 1 Institute of General Practice, Medical Faculty of the Heinrich-Heine-University, Düsseldorf, Germany
  2. 2 Interdisciplinary Centre for Health Studies (CIESAL), Universidad de Valparaiso, Viña del Mar, Valparaíso, Chile
  3. 3 Erasmus School of Health Policy and Management, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
  1. Correspondence to Dr Maria-Inti Metzendorf; maria-inti.metzendorf{at}med.uni-duesseldorf.de

https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjebm-2024-113124

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    As the impacts of climate change and the transgression of other planetary boundaries on human health become evident, so is the impact of healthcare on climate change and environmental degradation. This interplay between human health and the environmental impact of healthcare increasingly emerges as a critical concern. Healthcare delivery, while aimed at preserving human health, paradoxically contributes to environmental pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, either directly from healthcare facilities or indirectly from the supply chain of healthcare goods and services.1 As healthcare professionals, we must confront this paradox, recognising the need to assume a role in mitigating the environmental impacts of our practices and also in advocating for a broader change in professional culture towards sustainability.2

    While striving to adhere to the principle of ‘first, do no harm’, healthcare is an important contributor to climate change, environmental degradation, biodiversity loss, and resource depletion.3 Recent estimates suggest that healthcare activities are responsible for 2–6% of global greenhouse gas emissions, alongside other pollutants like sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and particulate matter.3 4 For the USA, this …

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    Footnotes

    • X @mintimetz, @eva_madrid_aris

    • Contributors MIM drafted the editorial and is the guarantor. EM and EvR commented on and revised the editorial.

    • Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

    • Competing interests EvR reports grants from the Dutch Research Council (NWO) to do research on circular hospitals (2024–2028) and from Convergence.nl to do research on zero emission endoscopy (2024–2027). MIM and EM report no competing interests.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; internally peer reviewed.