Effectively responding to climate change requires the transformation of practices to adopt low carbon operations in every sector, at local, regional and global scales.

The healthcare sector represents a significant industry in many national economies, including Australia’s with 9.5% of national GDP attributable to healthcare. The health sector is energy intensive; accounting for between 3-8% of national emissions in developing nations; and a prolific producer of waste and consumer of water.

Climate change is already having a significant impact on the health of people worldwide and in Australia.

Transforming the operations of the healthcare sector to low carbon operations offers the opportunity for the sector to provide leadership in effectively responding to climate change. Many strategies that reduce emissions also deliver health benefits and can be cost saving.

A global network of health systems and health organisations, the Global Green and Healthy Hospitals Network, is providing hospitals and healthcare providers across six continents the opportunity to work together to boost their resilience to climate change. Using a innovative online social networking platform, the network provides a virtual community for hospitals, health systems and organizations to allow them to share their progress, co-create responses, and help accelerate global best practice in climate resilient healthcare.

This presentation will outline this innovative approach to building an effective response to climate change through global collaboration across the health sector, and discuss the potential for similar approaches in other sectors.