Climate action is urgent. Climate change and the degradation of our environment is already impacting human health. For our patient’s sake, and the sake of our children and grandchildren, we cannot rely on politicians and tech to fix this mess. We can – and should – drive climate action!
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A sizable movement is already underway, and much progress has been made in the last 10 years. Some areas of the world are already close to reaching a social tipping point, where enough people are involved that the sustainable action is becoming the norm. This movement is underway, and will just continue to get stronger. We are the first generation of healthcare professionals forced to consider climate change, but we won’t be the last. Now is the time to take climate action.
Now is the Time to Take Climate Action
We are the People…with Responsibility
Only recently has the healthcare sector’s contribution to global emissions even been calculated, and we come in at 4.4% of the total. Now, that may not sound like a lot, but that amounts to over 2 billion tons of CO2 emitted per year, which is more than the aviation and shipping industries. We are clearly contributing to a problem and doing a harm that we have taken an oath not to do.
We have taken an oath, either actually or implicitly, to First Do No Harm. Our whole mission is for
our patient’s health. But the pace that we consume the resource-intensive things we consume is harmful. There’s an irony to our current unhealthy, wasteful healthcare. The health of our current patients and future generations is dependent on the ecosystem in which we exist. If we continue to damage our environment while doing “health”, what have we achieved?
Climate change and environmental degradation are already bringing patients to us in EDs, hospitals and GP surgeries. These are our patients and we are trying to heal them at the same time that we are harming them….harming with one hand and healing with the other. We have an ethical duty to do better.
Our Financial Clout
We have economic clout that we should learn to harness. The healthcare sector makes up 10% of the NZ GDP. It’s 10.9% of the gross world product and 18.8% of the US GDP. With this share of the market, we can sway the market if we all demand the change that is needed.
In addition to our clout with healthcare spending, we also have a possibility of swaying things with our own wallets. We often have investments that might actually be in industries and banks that are harmful to the environment. We can divest this – and throw our financial weight into greener sectors.
Our Social Clout
We also have considerable social clout and the ability to influence others. Doctors and nurses always come in first on surveys asking who the most trusted professionals are. If we all start moving to heal the environment – if we all eschew the new and flashy, travel actively, demanding plant-based options, and at work practice more sustainably, we could actually sway this movement significantly. Let’s use our trusted voices and turn this ship around!
Our Expertise
Healthcare professionals deal with complex problems every day. We are good at assimilating information and coming up with plans. We have been trained to anticipate the future health consequences arising from people’s current behavior. The mindset and habit changes needed to drive climate action are within our wheelhouse!
This Deserves Our Very Best Effort
We all care about others on this planet, and want our children and grandchildren to have peace and the ability to enjoy life without evading continuous climate disasters. If we have the ability to sway this movement, (and I think we do) how can we not give this our very best effort?
Where to Start?
Check out this post on 7 things you can do to be more sustainable at work.
