Mission and goals

Our vision

Health care mobilizes its ethical, economic and political influence to create an ecologically sustainable, equitable and healthy world.

Our mission

Transform health care worldwide so that it reduces its environmental footprint, becomes a community anchor for sustainability and a leader in the global movement for environmental health and justice.

Overarching goals

1. Protect Public Health from Climate Change: Reduce health care’s carbon footprint, foster climate resilient health systems, mobilize the health sector to address climate change as a public health issue, and advocate for solutions that accelerate a transition to clean, renewable energy.

2. Transform the Supply Chain: Establish and globalize procurement criteria and leverage health care’s purchasing power to drive policies and markets for ethically produced, healthy, sustainable products and services.

3. Build Leadership for Environmental Health: Inspire, mobilize and support health care’s leadership to promote environmental sustainability, human rights, and the right to health in order to achieve large-scale transformational change.

Program goals

Buildings - Promote green and healthy health care facility design, construction, renovation and operations in order to minimize environmental impacts and foster restorative and sustainable healing environments.

Chemicals - Work with health care to eliminate harmful chemicals or substitute them with safer alternatives; minimize chemical exposure of patients, health care workers and communities; drive the design, use and safe disposal of safer materials and chemicals.

Energy - Accelerate the implementation of energy efficiency while promoting clean, renewable energy in health care, thereby mobilizing the sector as a leader for a healthy energy future for all.

Food - Collaborate with health care facilities to promote, purchase and serve sustainably grown, healthy food so as to support the development of sustainable food systems that improve environmental health and address the upstream social and economic determinants of non-communicable diseases.

Pharmaceuticals - Support the safe production, management and disposal of pharmaceuticals, reducing their environmental and health impact throughout the entire life cycle and fostering innovations for green products.

Transportation - Promote transportation strategies for patients, their families and staff that support healthier local and regional transport systems, while reducing health care’s contribution to air pollution, climate change and the burden of disease.

Waste - Promote zero waste policies, reduce the volume and toxicity of waste produced by the health care sector, and implement safe, sustainable disposal options as alternatives to incineration.

Water - Develop conservation, recycling and treatment actions to reduce hospital water consumption and wastewater pollution; promote public health by advocating for policies and health care actions that assure community access to a safe water supply.