Health system nearly halves GHG emissions making great strides in their Race to Zero

In 2015, health sector greenhouse gas inventories were not a reality in Brazil, as the public emissions registry platform had data from only five health organizations. SPDM started its activities after considering the impact of climate change on the population's health, institutional values, low representation of the health sector addressing climate, the existence of a free Brazilian tool for inventories, and the launch of the Health Care Climate Challenge.

The objective was to develop a climate leadership strategy including: 

• Raising awareness among employees on the topic of climate change.
• Developing actions to reduce emissions and expenses, such as GHG emissions management.
• Establishing ambitious targets for reducing emissions, including joining the Race to Zero campaign.

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In 2016, an event promoted by the SPDM superintendence in partnership with Healthy Hospitals Project addressed climate change, followed by dozens of meetings to raise employee awareness. Workshops were held to orient staff to the calculation tool. Having a strategic goal helped with the preparation of greenhouse gas inventories, which have become standard practice through the use of  a management tool that has been guiding several initiatives to reduce emissions. SPDM was also a pioneer in the health care climate challenge and joined the Race to Zero campaign in 2021.

The team's process for raising awareness and developing a GHG inventories tool  was coordinated by the institution's environmental engineer. It incorporated input from different sectors (engineering, building maintenance, clinical engineering, transport, hospitality, pharmacy) to guarantee the quality and timeliness of data. The establishment of a strategic goal, leadership support, centralization, and data-gathering process were fundamental for success. The first inventory from 2015 consolidated information from 23 health care services managed by SPDM, and the last version from 2021 contained 37 inventories. Over the years, the management of emissions has enabled institutional actions such as the significant reduction of emissions related to nitrous oxide, as well as the replacement of fluorescent lamps with LEDs. The actions developed by the local teams also had a significant impact on reducing emissions. The journey to reduce emissions is ongoing, and joining Race to Zero in 2021 marks a new phase in the process.

Results are measured annually considering each individual care unit and on a consolidated basis. Individual assessment allows each service to evaluate its performance by scope and type of issue over time. The consolidated inventory illuminates major changes that need to be addressed to reduce emissions. In addition to inventory data, the institution established an indicator that evaluates emissions per full-time equivalent (FTE) employees. Adopting the year 2018 as a base, there was a 46,7% reduction in emissions in tCO₂e  per FTE.

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