Key areas for climate action in healthcare
Equip yourself and your organization with effective strategies to reduce the environmental impact of healthcare and address climate risk.
Our 10 priority action areas for high-quality, low-carbon, sustainable and climate-resilient health systems are supported by the clear evidence and experience needed for decisive movement forward.
For each action area, you will find a mix of robust, implementation-ready resources, training to strengthen your local capacity, and ways to get connected with others working in this space.
Care pathways
Key actions can minimize the environmental harms of medications throughout their lifecycle and address increased medication-related risks due to climate change.
Many opportunities exist to address the resource intensity of perioperative care while ensuring and promoting high quality care.
Comprehensive person-centered primary and community care can support health and wellbeing and reduce the need for more resource intensive services.
Practitioners across specialties can take meaningful steps to reduce the environmental impacts of their practice and safeguard patient and population health.
Health services can promote health, including by delivering healthy food, effective chronic disease management, and climate-adapted clinical care.
System enablers
Sustainability is intrinsically linked with both quality care and patient safety and can be embedded within these efforts.
Leadership and good governance are needed to develop and deliver effective climate and sustainability strategy.
The shift to climate resilient and sustainable health systems requires accurate assessment of healthcare’s environmental impacts.
Health systems can leverage their purchasing power to influence vendors and shape markets for sustainable and resilient health sector products and services.
Healthy food, digital innovation and effective waste management are among the key enablers of low-carbon, sustainable and climate-resilient health systems.
Resources in development
CASCADES collaborates with teams of health professionals, administrators, and/or leaders in the Canadian healthcare system on service delivery or system design innovations that reduce the climate impact of healthcare or the healthcare system.
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