Decreasing Health Care’s Impact on the Environment

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ID: 338464
2026
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Abstract
Abstract The climate crisis poses an escalating threat to global health, with the World Health Organization identifying climate change as the greatest health challenge facing humanity. The healthcare sector, despite its oath to do no harm, is a significant contributor to this crisis. If the United States’ healthcare system were considered a nation, it would rank as the 13th-largest emitter of greenhouse gases. This pollution exacerbates climate change and contributes directly to a range of health problems, including asthma, cancer, cardiovascular disease, and respiratory illnesses. Yet environmental impacts are often overlooked in daily medical decision-making, with limited consideration given to how interventions contribute to long-term, climate-related disease burdens. This chapter examines the healthcare sector’s contribution to greenhouse gas emissions and the climate crisis. Through a bioethical framework, it argues that if health care is to uphold its core ethical principles, systemic reforms are needed to balance patient care with environmental stewardship. To this end, several mitigation strategies are proposed, including sustainable purchasing, the use of life cycle analysis, waste reduction initiatives, educational programs, and energy conservation efforts. By reducing health care’s environmental footprint through both individual and systemic reforms, the healthcare industry can simultaneously improve health outcomes and decrease its contribution to environmental degradation, aligning the goals of patient care with planetary health.
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openalex_W7225154118 Use this key to autocite in the manuscript while using SciMatic Manuscript Manager or Thesis Manager
Authors Zelda J. Ghersin
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Journal Oxford University Press eBooks
Year 2026
DOI
10.1093/9780197807262.003.0020
URL
https://doi.org/10.1093/9780197807262.003.0020
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