Climate Change: The Issue

Global climate change is no longer an ominous future threat but a dawning reality — one that is already creating disturbing shifts in the natural and human environment and is eroding the delicate balance of our planet's ecosystem and the species that depend on it.

Hospitals are resource-intensive enterprises that, as they operate today, contribute substantially to climate change while inadvertently contributing to respiratory and other illnesses. Because of its size and influence, the health sector can play a unique leadership role in mitigating the consequences of climate change — that is reducing its magnitude and consequences — by getting our own house in order. By doing so health care can create a series of health, economic and social co-benefits that improve the health of the population.

By reducing its climate footprint and moving toward carbon neutrality, the health-care sector can demonstrate the path forward in this age of global warming, thereby playing a leadership role in advocating for a healthy and sustainable future.