NHS pledges to cut its carbon footprint

May 29, 2008

The NHS, reportedly Europe’s biggest employer, and a contributor of approximately 3% of England's total carbon dioxide emissions, has published for consultation a new Carbon Reduction Strategy committing the service as a whole to reducing emissions by 60% by 2050 in all areas, including procurement, travel and building energy use.

Setting out some of the ways the reductions can be achieved, the strategy was launched by Health Minister Ivan Lewis at London’s Kentish Town Integrated Health Centre, a new £10 million facility built with energy reduction features including night and day cooling via vented window apertures and “intelligent” roof vents, an externally insulated roof and highly insulated walls, solar powered wind catches, modular “cascading” boilers, and an “intelligent” building management system.The strategy’s key proposals include:

All NHS bodies to have a Carbon Management Strategy by 2009.
Organisations to report annually on their sustainable development progress.
The NHS to recycle 75% of its waste by 2020.

The draft strategy, with a response deadline of 21 August, is the first output of the NHS Sustainable Development Unit, hosted by NHS East of England. The latter’s CEO Neil McKay said: "Our unit was created to provide the leadership, support and ammunition NHS organisations need to take sustainable development into account in their day-to-day business. This is the first of a series of strategies that will take forward a sustainable development programme in the NHS. I would encourage anybody – doctors, nurses, patients and visitors – to put forward their views as part of this consultation." The NHS is reportedly responsible for generating over 18 million tonnes of carbon dioxide per year, and is the largest public sector contributor to climate change. The strategy shows where such carbon dioxide emissions are originating, and proposes actions for reducing the carbon footprint. NHS CEO David Nicholson said: "The nature and the scale of our business means we have a responsibility – and a unique opportunity – to play a leading role in the climate change agenda for the benefit of patients and the public. "It is up to us to challenge ourselves, so the scale of our ambition to tackle carbon emissions matches the scale of our opportunity. This consultation is an important next step on that journey. “To provide practical support to healthcare organisations, we have established a new NHS Sustainable Development Unit,” he added. “This will help build on the work we are already doing - over half of all NHS Trusts are now registered on the NHS Good Corporate Citizenship Assessment Model – adding fresh ideas and impetus. I am confident we can rise to this challenge." Saving Carbon, Improving Health: A Carbon Reduction Strategy for the NHS in England, can be found at http://www.sdu.nhs.uk The UK Climate Change Bill sets a new target to cut carbon dioxide emissions by at least 60% by 2050, based on 1990 levels, with a minimum 26% per cent reduction by 2020.

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NHS pledges to cut its carbon footprint

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