Irish Doctors for the Environment

The climate and biodiversity crises are increasingly being recognised as one of the major threats to human health and wellbeing, driving much of humanities efforts to decarbonise our economies. Yet the healthcare sector is an enormous source of greenhouse gas emissions and waste, with some estimates calculating that if the global healthcare sector was a country, it would be the fifth largest emitting country in the world. Achieving net zero within the healthcare sector is therefor essential not only for the health and wellbeing of the populations that they serve, but also in helping governments achieve national net zero goals.

But with such a huge volume of consumables, plastic waste, infrastructure heating and lighting needs, ambulance fleets and so on, how can this be achieved? This month we speak to James Dixon to try and find some answers. James is a leader in healthcare sustainability: he is a chartered environmentalist who has worked in healthcare sustainability for over 15 years, including winning national awards such as the sustainable healthcare leader of the year award along the way. His current roles of associate director of sustainability at Newcastle Hospitals NHS trust and sustainability lead for North East and Cumbria integrated care systems puts him in charge of driving these institutions transition to net zero.