Low-Carbon and Sustainable Health Systems (LCSHS)
Health systems are responsible for around 5.2% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions annually (Lancet Countdown, 2022). Health systems must reduce their carbon footprint to avoid contributing further to climate change while continuing to protect and improve population health.
Low-carbon and sustainable health systems (LCSHS) is an area of work focused on mitigating and building climate resilience and adaptation to present, emerging, and future health impacts and threats of climate change.
This area of work will focus on the second commitment area of the COP26 Health Programme:
ATACH works to achieve its key objectives and help countries meet their commitments with objectives that include:
- Identify existing technical knowledge and tools for measuring the baseline greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of health systems and facilities and make these available to Member States and ATACH partners.
- Identify, disseminate, strengthen, and advocate for evidence and knowledge on key topics related to low carbon sustainable health systems (e.g., benefits of reducing emissions in health care, technologies for low carbon sustainable health systems and facilities and opportunities to promote low carbon sustainability, and effectiveness of interventions).
- Identify and disseminate lessons and best practice from country and partner experiences, and support learning.
- Identify country needs to implement their LCSHS commitments and facilitate access to technical support.
- Facilitate access by the health sector to climate change funding for health and ensure health sector’s capacity to develop project proposals on climate change and health is effectively strengthened.
- Foster collaboration amongst partners to address common challenges and block necks, especially where collective action is required to meet mutual goals, e.g., standards, access to finance, engaging and working with the private sector, etc.