2020: How would we act if we were in a climate emergency?

Welcome to 2020! It’s going to be a busy year.  Building on the momentum of 2019 and the increased awareness of the climate emergency, we are seeing a huge increase in requests for help in understanding and engaging with sustainable healthcare. So many good things beginning to happen in different parts of the health system, and people starting to work across sectors, as we must.

At the same time, I sometimes feel that I’m living in parallel universes. We know that we have only 10 years to get to zero carbon, so asap we need to get down to the detail of creating a plan for how we do that. Yet, as I write this, I can see out of the window cars crawling into Oxford slower than the people walking along the side of the polluted road. Here are some thoughts going into the new year.

1. In an emergency, we have to behave differently and act swiftly.  How are we doing that?
2. Each health organization needs to make their own tailored plan for the climate emergency - now.
3. Some system-wide changes should be made centrally (we have a list if you can help!)
4. We have lots of examples of sustainable healthcare in practice. They still need proper resourcing
5. What we don't know also needs resources to work on.

Please add to this blog your thoughts and wishlists/priorities for the year.

We will all be doing our utmost in 2020 both to help others get involved and pass on what we already know, and to drive forward the agenda in areas where there are gaps. Do contact us if we can work together this year to help really turn things around in your organisation, make a realistic plan for the climate emergency and together we can develop healthcare which is fit for the future.