U.K.’s Health System Aims to Be World’s First With Net-Zero Emissions
The NHS plans to invest in electric ambulances and cut emissions from its medicines to reach its 2045 goal
Photographer: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images
The U.K.’s National Health Service has set a target to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2045, making it the world’s first health service to set such an ambitious climate goal.
The organization is also committing to zeroing out its direct emissions before 2040 by investing in electric ambulances and building greener hospitals. The 2045 deadline, which includes emissions from across its supply chain, is five years ahead of the U.K. government’s goal set last year, the first to be recorded as law by a wealthy nation.
“It is not enough for the NHS to treat the problems caused by air pollution and climate change, from asthma to heart attacks and strokes,” said Simon Stevens, chief executive of the NHS, in a statement last week. “We need to play our part in tackling them at source.”