BMJ  2008;336:1399 (21 June), doi:10.1136/bmj.a382

News

NHS will reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 60% by 2050, minister says

Owen Dyer

1 London

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

The NHS in England is committed to reducing its emission of greenhouse gases by 60% before the year 2050, the junior health minister Ivan Lewis announced last week. The target is in line with the national carbon emissions target set by the government in the Climate Change Bill currently before Parliament.

Mr Lewis said that England’s NHS is the largest public sector contributor in Europe to climate change, generating more than 18 million tonnes of carbon dioxide each year, almost as much as the entire province of Northern Ireland. The largest source of emissions, accounting for 60% of the total, is the procurement of goods and services—the manufacturing, transport, use, and disposal of everything consumed by the NHS.

"Climate change is happening on our watch; it will be our legacy," Mr Lewis said. "We must all work together to tackle this global problem."

The location chosen for Mr Lewis’s announcement, . . . [Full text of this article]


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