Tools and Resources

• The Impact of Health Care
• Policies and Resolutions
• Tools for the Health Care Sector
• Educational Materials

The Impact of Health Care

• Climate Change and Human Health: Present and Future Risks, Lancet 2006 (pdf)
• The Impact of Climate Change on Child Health, Ambulatory Pediatrics 2003 (pdf)
• Major US EPA study: Analyses of the Effects of Global Change on Human Health and Welfare and Human Systems (pdf)
• The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) recently concluded its Fourth Assessment Report
• American Society for Healthcare Engineering: Energy Use in the Healthcare Industry (pdf) and the Healthcare Energy Guidebook; download full report (pdf 4MB) or individual sections

Policies and Resolutions

• California's 2006 Global Warming Solutions Act
• The American Public Health Association (APHA) has recognized the threat of Climate Change to Public Health. On Nov. 2007, APHA issued a policy statement that the long-term threat of climate change to health is extremely serious and that GHG emissions are primarily responsible for this threat. Among other resolutions, the APHA resolves that the healthcare industry should be better educated about the impacts of climate change and adopt mitigation and adaptation strategies.

Tools for the Health Care Sector

• Addressing Climate Change in the Health Care Setting: Opportunities for Action outlines seven steps health care systems can take to reduce their climate footprint while improving public health, and presents examples from around the world. (pdf)
• Climate Change and Health: Is There a Role for the Health Care Sector? (pdf)
  Catholic Health Association of the United States
• Healthy Hospitals, Healthy Planet, Healthy People: Addressing Climate Change in Health Care Settings aims at addressing the climate footprint of the health sector (pdf)
• Green Guide for Health Care
  A voluntary, self-certifying system modeled with permission on the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED rating system. The Green Guide for Health Care is the first green building tool tailored specifically for the health care sector, and includes many strategies for reducing energy use and incorporating energy efficient designs and systems into the building, construction and operation of health care facilities. Download the the Guide (free registration required)

Educational Materials

• Climate Change and the Role of the Health Care Professional: Education, Mitigation, Adaptation
  A webinar presented by Robert Gould, MD and Brenda Afzal, MS, RN
• Climate Change and Human Health: A Nurse's Call to Action
  A webinar presented by Dr. Kim Knowlton, Natural Resources Defense Council
• This three hour Symposium on Climate Change and Health was presented by HCWH and Magee-Womens Hospital of UPMC, on July 12, 2012.