Let’s cut some carbon out of health care

If you haven’t yet joined the worldwide carbon reduction initiative 10:10, there is still time. All you have to do is establish your organisation’s use of electricity, fuel, and road and air travel by the end of this year and commit to cutting it by 10% within 12 months. As Nigel Hawkes describes (doi:10.1136/bmj.c5448), well over 100 healthcare organisations in the UK have signed up, ranging from hospital and primary care trusts to individual general practices. Forty five other countries now have 10:10 organisations.

Health care faces an enormous challenge. At an individual level, high carbon lifestyles are bad for health. At a global level, …