January 27 Event – The Path To Climate-Smart Net-Zero Emissions Health Care Series

PART 1 – Climate, Health Care and the Race to Zero: A Call to Action

Thursday, January 27, 2022  |  11:00 AM EST  | Virtual 

Presented with the Global Consortium on Climate and Health Education, this grand rounds session will highlight how the Global Roadmap for Health Care Decarbonization can help the health care sector meet the goals of the Race to Zero – to halve emissions by 2030 and achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 – and why clinician leadership is critical in meeting this goal.

In this session participants will:

1. Be inspired by a call to action to the health care sector about the imperative to reduce emissions to protect public and planetary health
2. Learn about the high-impact actions necessary to reduce health care emissions
3. Hear from two clinicians on why their institutions joined the Race to Zero

Visionary health systems understand that reducing health care emissions and creating climate resilience are at the core of their mission to improve health. Two such systems are Providence (US) and Aravind Eye Care System (India), who have both signed onto the Race to Zero and committed to reduce emissions across all scopes in line with the Paris Agreement.

In this call to action session, Gary Cohen, president and founder of Health Care Without Harm, will be joined by clinical leaders from Providence and Aravind Eye Care System, who will share why their institutions are taking action to achieve net-zero emissions, along with the role of clinicians in meeting this goal.

In addition, Dr. Schenk will discuss Providence’s bold commitment to become carbon negative by 2030 using their WE ACT framework. Dr. Venkatesh will share how Aravind Eye System is challenging conventions about surgery and showing the world that surgery’s environmental footprint can be decreased through efficiency and decreasing waste without compromising quality.