ABSTRACT
The interdependence between climate change and healthcare represents a unique opportunity for the health sector to play a leadership role in slowing anthropogenic climate change at the same time as it leads in combating its effects. The sector has immense potential as a climate policy advocate and as a leader of the community’s effort to decarbonise. This chapter will outline how the health sector can lead society in transitioning to a low-carbon economy, as well as how individual healthcare facilities can lead their communities by example and through advocacy. At the grassroots level, the aim of making healthcare facilities carbon-neutral and climate-resilient, all while providing quality healthcare, cannot be achieved without dedicated and sustained leadership and engagement. If hospitals and healthcare centres across the country can bring in clean, renewable energy and invest in conservation strategies, health systems can lead by example and become a model of leadership for the rest of the community. In order to provide better care, healthcare providers need to be sensitised about how climate change affects disease patterns and population vulnerabilities. The chapter uses compelling case studies to demonstrate how the health sector can play a driving role as a climate advocate.
