International comparison of health care carbon footprints

Abstract Climate change confronts the health care sector with a dual challenge. Accumulating climate impacts are putting an increased burden on the service provision of already stressed health care systems in many regions of the world. At the same time, the Paris agreement requires rapid emission reductions in all sectors of the global economy to stay well below the 2 °C target. This study shows that in OECD countries, China, and India, health care on average accounts for 5% of the national CO 2 footprint making the sector comparable in importance to the food sector. Some countries have seen reduced CO 2 emissions related to health care despite growing expenditures since 2000, mirroring their economy wide…