The carbon footprint of Australia’s healthcare sector is estimated at over 7% of Australia’s total emissions. While every sector needs to play its part to limit global warming and environmental degradation, the healthcare sector has an added responsibility (and opportunity) to lead mitigation of emissions and environmental impacts.

Of health care’s 7% contribution to Australian carbon emissions, hospitals are responsible for 44%, pharmaceuticals 19%, capital expenditure 8%, community and public health 6% and general practice 4%. Beyond carbon emissions, healthcare is a significant contributor to waste products and natural resource consumption, threatening our present and future health.

Advocating for sustainable health care

Doctors for the Environment Australia has been working for over a decade to address healthcare sector’s carbon footprint and environmental impact and to highlight the added health and financial co-benefits of healthcare sector action.

We advocated strongly for a National Health and Climate Strategy and the accompanying National Health Sustainability and Climate Unit and have been closely involved in the subsequent strategy and formation. As such we welcomed the formation of National Health and Climate Strategy as an an important whole-of-government plan to protect the health of Australians.

We have a memorandum of understanding with the Australian Medical Association, where we agree to work together for zero emissions in Australian health care.

• We agree that fundamental to mitigation is the requirement for national emissions reductions aligned to science-based targets.
• We will work to help achieve this by advocating for and supporting a transition to an environmentally sustainable healthcare sector. This includes the success of the National Health Sustainability and Climate Unit, equipping current and future doctors with the knowledge to provide sustainable healthcare, and promoting environmentally sustainable changes of practice for healthcare organisations and facilities.
• We will advocate for improved understanding and planning of the health impacts of climate change, including influencing the direction of the National Health and Climate Strategy, and improved data collection and research relating to healthcare’s environmental impact and the health impacts of climate change.
• We will work to improve public understanding about the human health benefits of a transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources, with support for reducing Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions on health grounds.
• We will work to support the trusted voices of doctors and the wider health system to advocate for action on climate change, as we are often on the front line, treating patients who have been affected by extreme weather events.

Net Zero Carbon Emissions for the Australian Healthcare Sector - our report and organisations that have endorsed healthcare emission reduction targets of 80% by 2030 and net zero emissions by 2040.

GreenCollege Guidelines

DEA and the AMA have developed the GreenCollege Guidelines document for medial colleges, specialities, societies, councils and associations to lead by example through incorporating changes to operations that will assist in transforming the healthcare sector to net zero emissions. Supporting organisations can be found here.

AMA x DEA Webinar: Climate change and sustainability: leadership and action from Australian doctors

In the fourth edition of the AMA-DEA annual webinar, Assistant Minister for Health and Aged Care, Hon Ged Kearney MP discusses the Australian Government’s commitment to climate change and health. Dr Catherine Pendrey presents recent relevant advances from the Australian Medical Council (AMC) and Professor Carolyn Hullick presents the sustainability work from the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care (ACSQHC). As always, each of the Australian medical colleges provided updates on their specialty’s past and future activities in relation to climate change and sustainability.

The 2023 Webinar: Australia’s doctors – driving action on climate change

In our Third Webinar Australia’s leading doctors called on all Australian governments and the healthcare sector to prioritise climate mitigation and adaptation policies to protect the health of present and future generations.
We heard from our Chief Medical Officer, Prof Paul Kelly who highlighted the work of the National Health, Sustainability and Climate Unit. He was joined by the AMA president, Prof Steve Robson, DEA's Chair Dr John Van Der Kallen, DEA's Sustainability group co-chair Dr Eugenie Kayak and Dr Kate Charlesworth, senior advisor of the Climate Risk & Net Zero Unit at NSW Health.

The 2022 Webinar: Climate Change and Sustainability: Leadership and Action From Australian Doctors 2 

Our second webinar, facilitated by Dr Stephen Robson (AMA President) and Dr John Van Der Kallen (DEA chair) provided an update from medical colleges, with keynotes by Minister Mark Butler, Prof Nick Talley, Alexandra Barrett.

The 2021 Webinar: Climate Change and Sustainability: Leadership and Action from Australian Doctors. 

The first of our annual webinars where 13 medical colleges showcased the actions, and Dr Nick Watts (Chief Sustainability Officer at NHS) and Prof Mark Howden (Director, ANU Institute for Climate, Energy and Disaster Solutions and Vice Chair, IPCC) along with Dr Eugenie Kayak (DEA) gave brief keynote presentations.

The webinar was moderated by Dr Omar Khorshid (AMA President) and Dr John Van De Kallen (DEA Chair).

To see how Doctors for the Environment Australia is providing interdisciplinary clinical education resources on the health effects of climate change to medical professionals go to our Medical Education page.