What is Climate-Smart Health Care?
Health professionals are committed to preventing illness and protecting health. Yet the health care sector contributes significantly to climate and air pollution, worsening health disparities.
Climate-smart health care addresses this challenge by reducing emissions, strengthening resilience to extreme weather, and advancing a healthier, more equitable future for all.
What Climate-Smart Health Care Means in Practice？
Reduce Emissions
Reducing greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution generated by health care systems.
Advance Health Equity
Addressing climate impacts that disproportionately affect vulnerable populations.
Build Climate Resilience
Preparing hospitals and communities to withstand increasingly severe weather events.
Lead Sustainable Transformation
Positioning health care as a leader in environmental sustainability and innovation.
Our Climate-Smart Health Care Committee
Our committee brings together health professionals across North Carolina to advance sustainable, resilient, and equitable health care systems.
John Lohnes, PA-C, MHS, MEM, CPH Co-Chair
What We Do?
Educate health system leaders on measuring and reducing climate impacts
Support transitions to lower-carbon, more resilient health care practices
Partner with hospitals and institutions to accelerate sustainability efforts
Highlight co-benefits such as cost savings and workforce retention
Kathleen Shapley-Quinn, MD Co-Chair
Join us.
Please join in one or more meetings of our health professional committee for a Climate-Smart Health Care meeting. We’ll be discussing ongoing and new efforts to make our NC health systems more sustainable and more resilient in the face of climate change. No prior knowledge required!
We meet the third Tuesday of every month at 12pm EST virtually, via Zoom.
“Ultimately, climate-smart healthcare will strengthen health sectors and communities by ensuring access to clean and independent energy, safe water, clean transport, and clean waste disposal mechanisms. . . It will stimulate the development and supply of sustainable products, while also preparing the sector for a future of known and unknown health-related climate hazards.”
— Timothy Bouley, World Bank