Decarbonisation is the process of reducing and eventually eliminating our reliance on carbon and greenhouse gas emissions in our lives. The fossil fuels oil, coal and natural gas are rich in carbon and produce greenhouse gas emissions such as carbon dioxide (CO2).
Since the Industrial Revolution of the 1800s, we’ve been burning these carbon-rich fuels to generate energy used in heating, lighting, hot water, transport, manufacturing, agriculture.
Basically, we use them as part of almost everything we do – including healthcare.
What is carbon and where does it come from?
All living things on Earth contain the chemical element carbon, including plants, animals and humans. Over hundreds of millions of years, remains of plants and animals have been buried beneath the Earth’s surface. Heat and pressure turned the material into carbon-rich fossil fuels.
By burning these fossil fuels, we upset the world’s natural balance, putting more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than the world can naturally absorb or turn back into fossil fuels. When carbon is burnt, we get heat, water and carbon dioxide (CO2). Carbon dioxide is a chemical compound composed of two atoms of oxygen bonded with one carbon atom, hence the chemical abbreviation CO2.
Pumping CO2 into the Earth’s atmosphere by burning fossil fuels creates a thickening blanket around our Earth, trapping the sun’s energy and stopping it radiating into space, which increases the temperature of the Earth, with catastrophic effects1.
When fossil fuels are extracted, as well as within landfill sites and agricultural practices such as rearing cows, we also get methane – a greenhouse gas that is up to 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide (CO2) in terms of warming the Earth.
Why is decarbonisation so important?
Governments and businesses need to design out our reliance on carbon by changing from fossil fuels to renewable and carbon-free energy sources such as solar and wind power. We also need to redesign processes and products – so that the use or release of any high-carbon gas or fuel is designed out of our lives.
Only by building a global carbon-free economy can we avoid the implications of extreme climate change and the threat it poses to the health of people and planet.
Climate science tells us that we need to keep global temperature increases to no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial levels. In response to the ambition of the 2015 Paris Agreement, many governments and business leaders have set targets and made commitments to reduce carbon emissions.
Decarbonisation has become a global imperative and a priority for governments, companies and society at large, because it plays such an important role in limiting global warming.
Decarbonisation needs to be achieved as quickly as possible.
How can decarbonisation be achieved?
By eliminating technologies, energy sources, products and processes that cause large CO2 emissions, replacing them with low-carbon and zero-carbon alternatives, and by reducing energy requirements. At the same time, emissions can also be offset by carbon storage.
Decarbonisation will require a fundamentally different energy system which uses naturally recurring or renewable energy sources, such as wind energy and hydrogen.
The ultimate target is to decouple our reliance on carbon in our everyday lives and build a thriving society that no longer requires high-carbon energy, products and services.
What’s the role of healthcare companies in contributing to a carbon-free world?
The role of healthcare companies is shifting as we move from treating healthcare conditions, to encouraging people to be healthier to try to head off disease – essentially this shift is from healthcare to protecting and promoting good health. To enable this transformation there are three key aspects for the healthcare sector to consider:
- Focusing on reducing our impact on the environment.
Healthcare’s carbon footprint is equivalent to 4.4% of global greenhouse gas net emissions2 and the healthcare sector is increasingly recognised as a major polluter. As healthcare organisations become more aware of their environmental impact, it is essential that we start to develop plans to reduce emissions and waste associated with delivery of care.
- Accelerating and measuring the transition to a sustainable healthcare system.
Healthcare organisations involved in the design, delivery and funding of services need to increase their focus on the three core principles of sustainable healthcare, namely:- Prevention – keeping people well and reducing the need for them to have to access healthcare services;
- Efficiency – making sure that care pathways are organised in a way that is accessible, avoids duplication and unnecessary resource consumption; and
- Low-impact treatment – innovating and identifying ways to reduce the impact of treatment delivered to patients without compromising the clinical outcome.
By including measures around the environmental impact of care alongside traditional health outcomes, it will be easier for healthcare organisations to make the rapid transition to more sustainable models of care - Advocating for change.
Healthcare organisations, and especially healthcare professionals, are seen as highly trusted sources of information around the world. By presenting information about the relationship between health, healthcare and the environment to both employees and patients they can enhance society’s engagement and drive the widescale actions required to decarbonise.
Healthcare companies, including Bupa, are focusing on decarbonisation: measuring the impact of healthcare; the opportunities with value-based healthcare; digital innovation in health treatment; reducing the impact of provision partners and suppliers and implementing new low impact innovation.
Our sector is starting to take a more active role in using the health argument to support climate action – advocating for healthy planet and healthy people.
References:
1. NASA Climate Kinds - Why is carbon so important?
2. Healthcare Without Harm - Climate Footprint Report
