The global healthcare sector is under growing pressure. Many health systems are dealing with rising demand, increasing instances of chronic conditions and ageing populations. At the same time, the impacts of climate change – such as heat-related illness, respiratory disease and food insecurity – are compounding the strain.
To build a healthier future, the healthcare sector needs to respond and adapt. This means taking an upstream approach: prioritising prevention, restoring nature, rethinking how and where care is delivered, and embedding sustainability into every aspect of healthcare.
This also means recognising the powerful role that people’s environments and communities play in shaping health. From walkable neighbourhoods and clean air to green space and access to nutritious food, healthy cities are essential for preventing disease and promoting wellbeing – especially in the face of climate change.
At the heart of this transformation is a simple focus: improving people’s health. The goal is to find the sweet spot where better health outcomes and sustainable solutions go hand in hand.
The good news? Healthcare leaders have a real opportunity to leverage innovation to power this shift – enabling care that’s more personalised, preventative, resilient and better for both people and planet.
1. Bring care closer to home with digital innovation
New technologies are paving the way for a more sustainable future in healthcare. Across the sector, there’s growing momentum behind digital solutions that reduce emissions.
At Bupa, this includes tools like Blua, digital health by Bupa, which enables, for example, remote consultations, virtual physiotherapy and digital symptom checks. In Madrid, the soon-to-open Blua Valdebebas Hospital will blend physical and digital care with features like digital check-ins, at-home ultrasounds and virtual post-op support. In Australia, Bupa’s Virtual Heart Failure Service allows clinicians to monitor patients remotely and intervene early.
These kinds of innovations can reduce emissions, ease pressure on frontline services and help create a more adaptable, lower-impact healthcare system.
Healthcare has a significant carbon footprint. If the global sector were a country, it would be the fifth-largest greenhouse gas emitter. To reduce healthcare’s environmental impact, the sector needs to rethink where and how care is delivered.
2. Shift to prevention and personalisation to reduce future emissions
Prevention and personalisation are essential to future-ready healthcare. But preventing illness isn’t just about medicine – it’s also about the conditions in which people live. Healthy environments, active lifestyles and well-designed urban spaces can dramatically reduce rates of chronic disease. Preventing illness is better for patients and, through reduced hospital treatment, more sustainable too. Early detection generates significantly fewer emissions than treating advanced conditions.
AI-powered eye tests now screen for chronic diseases such as dementia before symptoms appear. Genomics-based, risk-informed screening helps focus resources on those at highest risk – improving outcomes and reducing waste.
Through Bupa’s My Genomic Health programme, over 14,000 people in the UK and Spain will receive whole genome sequencing, offering personalised insights into risks for more than 60 conditions – including cardiovascular disease and cancer – alongside personalised prevention plans and expert clinical guidance.
So far, 75% of participants carried polygenic markers linked to a higher-than-average risk of developing conditions like high cholesterol, hypertension or type 2 diabetes – risks that can often be managed with regular screening and lifestyle changes. In addition, for preventable diseases, 4% of participants were found to carry monogenic variants that significantly increase the risk of serious conditions such as certain cancers (1 in 33 people) or cardiovascular disease (1 in 100). These high-impact single-gene variants usually require earlier or more proactive medical intervention. Nearly all had genetic variants affecting how they respond to medicine, enabling more precise and effective treatment.
3. Make healthcare more resilient to climate change
The health impacts of climate change are not hypothetical. Extreme heat, worsening air pollution and shifting disease patterns are already affecting millions. It is critical that healthcare is ready to respond.
Remote care, AI and digital tools offer powerful ways to respond to climate-related health threats. During events such as heatwaves, virtual services can provide early warnings and real-time support, helping keep vulnerable people safe at home.
Advanced preventive care also strengthens resilience by helping people manage conditions – such as cardiovascular or respiratory disease – that make them more vulnerable to climate shocks. Even simple interventions, such as using wearable devices to send heat-related health alerts, could potentially save lives.
By identifying those most at risk and tailoring support before a crisis hits, AI and data-driven tools can make healthcare more agile, relieve pressure on overstretched services and help maintain continuity of care during climate emergencies.
4. Scale innovation responsibly, equitably and collaboratively
Innovation alone isn’t enough. To deliver lasting impact, healthcare stakeholders need to scale new technologies in ways that are fair, transparent and grounded in evidence.
Today, many digital and AI-enabled care pathways lack reliable emissions data. Without data, it’s difficult to assess their true environmental impact or make informed decisions. Health systems, insurers and tech providers must work together to build a stronger evidence base.
Equity must also be front and centre. New technologies often reach wealthier populations first, while climate change disproportionately affects the most vulnerable. We need to ensure innovation doesn’t widen existing health gaps. That means designing digital models for low- and middle-income settings, expanding affordable access and ensuring diverse populations are represented in genomic and AI datasets. At Bupa we’re exploring how we can increase access to care for even more people. For example, in the UK our subscription product provides a lower-cost option for GP access.
Collaboration is essential. Governments, providers, insurers and innovators must align strategies, share learnings and remove structural barriers – so we can build a healthcare system that’s truly sustainable and works for everyone.
Innovating to support people and planet
To build healthcare that’s fit for the future, we need to think differently – designing systems that keep people healthier for longer, respond faster to risk and do less harm to the planet.
Digital tools, genomics and AI are opening new doors. But it’s how we apply them that matters most. With the right focus on equity, evidence and collaboration, we can transform healthcare into a force for sustainability and resilience – for people and the planet.
What does the future of healthcare look like to you?
We’d love to hear your thoughts.
