Resilient Health Care Bridges Adaptation & Mitigation
Summary
In 2024, Health Care Without Harm (HCWH) and its global partners committed to double the number of health institutions on a trajectory to achieve net-zero health care by 2028, while prioritizing access to resilient health care for 100 million people. The commitment will engage approximately 100 health institutions, representing more than 14,000 health facilities in more than 26 countries. To scale this work fast enough and far enough, HCWH will link two key global climate campaigns – The Race to Zero and the Race to Resilience – for the first time, mobilizing and accelerating the momentum for the health sector to join mitigation and adaptation efforts led by the UN Climate Change High-Level Champion, and demonstrating how a sector can contribute to both mitigation and adaptation.
Approach
Health Care Without Harm (HCWH) and its global partners will engage approximately 100 health institutions, to more than double the number of health facilities on a trajectory to net zero health care by 2028, while ensuring access to resilient health care for 100 million people.
To scale this work fast enough and far enough, HCWH proposes for the first time to link two key global climate campaigns, mobilizing and accelerating the momentum for the health sector to join mitigation and adaptation efforts led by the UN Climate Change High-Level Champions, demonstrating how a sector can contribute to both mitigation and adaptation.
The Race to Resilience (RtR) campaign puts people and nature first in its mission to build a resilient world. With the ambitious goal of increasing the resilience of 4 billion people by 2030, the campaign brings together a diverse range of efforts led by non-state actors – including cities, regions, businesses, and non-governmental organizations.
The Race to Zero is the largest coalition of non-state actors taking action to halve global emissions by 2030 and become net zero by 2050.
This commitment will bridge mitigation and adaptation, breaking down the silos between these two efforts and both educating and supporting HCWH’s networks on how to achieve them together. From sourcing renewable energy that has low to zero emissions while also providing a reliable power source so hospitals can stay open and provide care for their community; to implementing water conservation and efficiency in order to ensure a stable supply during droughts and reducing energy intensive treatment, there are numerous solutions for health care to progress on these issues simultaneously. By connecting these two Races, HCWH will be putting health care on an aggressive timeline to halve their emissions and achieve marked improvement in their resilience by 2030. Participating health care institutions will be at the cutting edge of this field, raising the bar for others to follow and tracking their progress and success annually both qualitatively and quantitatively.
Action Plan
2024 – 2025
Q4 2024: Regional meetings in Southeast Asia and Brazil
Q1 2025: Regional meetings in India, US, Europe, Latin America,and Australia
These meetings will allow for regional-based launches that will promote the initiative and activate the health care sector in each region.. HCWH will advertise the initiative more widely at COP29, while elevating it in global state-based initiatives such as the Alliance for Transformative Action on Climate and Health (ATACH) .
Q2-Q3 2025: Convene key implementers to develop and implement zero emissions and resilient health care learning initiatives and communities around the world at regional and national levels to accelerate the pace of pledges and the implementation of commitments.
Q3 2025: Publish annual report of activities and outcomes
Q4 2025: Launch a suite of tailored and new tools on adaptation for health care facilities, including recommendations on indicators drawn from resources created by HCWH, ATACH, and the Lancet Commission on Sustainable Healthcare. HWCH aims to have at least 100 institutions committed to the Race to Zero and Race to Resilience.
At COP30, initiative members from Brazil and other countries will discuss the power of aligning adaptation and mitigation efforts for resilience. The Ministry of Health of Brazil will be included in this session, as they are working with HCWH on a country-level approach for adaptation that includes mitigation co-benefits.
2026
Q1: Launch a survey of members and partners to understand further gaps, needs, tools, and the success of the initiatives
Q3 2026: Publish annual report of activities and outcomes
Q4: Publish case studies that demonstrate successful examples of balancing adaptation and net zero/mitigation strategies within health systems and facilities.
2027-2028
Q1-Q4 2027: Review and evaluate survey responses
Q3 2027: Publish annual report of activities and outcomes
Q3 2028: Publish annual report of activities and outcomes
Q4 2028: Complete final report of the Commitment
Background
Climate change is humanity’s biggest health threat and the global community is at a tipping point. The health care sector sits on the front lines to respond as these threats become a reality, while also being a contributor to the climate crisis itself. If healthcare were a country, it would be the 5th largest emitter in the world. Through the energy they use, the waste they produce, the materials and medicines they purchase, hospitals and health care facilities have a wide array of sources from which they are responsible for significant emissions. To add to the problem, health institutions are woefully unprepared to rise to the occasion when they are needed most. Extreme climate change caused weather events are becoming commonplace and yet hospitals are being flooded, losing power and the ability to stay open. Disease burden is shifting to new parts of the world but health care facilities are not prepared to treat many of these cases. If the health sector is to ensure that communities around the world have access to uninterrupted treatment and care and are able to navigate emerging climate-driven health challenges, health facilities must act now by mitigating their contribution to climate change and adapting in the face of the climate crisis they’ve contributed to as major emitters.
Progress Update
Partnership Opportunities
Additional resources will increase the capacity of HCWH’s partners at the international, regional and national levels to engage hospitals and health systems on the importance of net zero and resilience in their facilities. HCWH and its global partners will also raise awareness and strategize with health care institutions to implement commitments. This work is already underway in select parts of the world in HCWH’s network. Its ambition is that with additional resources, HCWH could scale this work and these commitments around the globe. Connecting this work to the Race to Zero and Race to Resilience will raise the profile and visibility of net zero, resilient health care to the forefront at relevant international climate conferences. These resources would increase HCWH’s ability to monitor progress towards targets, including the use of the Race to Resilience metrics framework and its adaptation to the sector., Through its international partners and nearly 2,000 Global Green and Healthy Hospital (GGHH) members, HCWH has cultivated a wealth of experience, expertise, and examples of best practices for how hospitals and health care facilities can design and implement solutions to deliver low carbon, resilient health care. This is an invaluable asset that fosters the transformation of the health care sector ranging from ministries of health, to private health systems, to rural clinics.
HCWH provides financial resources to partners in 7 countries and regions to deliver its programming and achieve its shared objectives and commitments. These organizations are integral to its success and play a key role in customizing its programs and initiatives to speak to the local context and community needs.
The Climate Champions’ Team (CCT) has managed the Race to Zero for 4 years, and Race to Resilience for 3 years, developing best practice on achieving net zero and resilience commitments.