Climate emergency: new expert panel will set out how NHS can achieve net zero

NHS England is establishing an expert panel to set out how the NHS can get to “net zero” on greenhouse gases ahead of the national target of 2050, the world’s first major health service to do so.

The expert panel will examine changes that can be made to reduce the NHS’s carbon footprint by looking at its supply chain and energy use. It will submit an interim report to NHS England in the summer, and the final report is expected in the autumn, ahead of the COP26 climate change summit in Glasgow in November.

In the UK, healthcare is responsible for 5.4% of the country’s net emissions, says a recent a report from Health Care Without Harm.1 The causes of air pollution and climate change are often the same, and both contribute to increased pressure on health services. …