The health of people and the health of the planet are inextricably interlinked.
By taking urgent action today, we can secure a liveable future for our children and grandchildren. That is the rallying cry of the latest report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The report highlights that greenhouse gas emissions must be cut by almost half by 2030 if we are to succeed in keeping global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.
So, what can leaders do in practice to ensure the long-term survival of our planet? One sector that appears to have a natural alignment with a healthier world is the healthcare sector. After all, both climate change and biodiversity loss have potentially devastating implications for human health.
Nigel Sullivan, chief sustainability and people officer at British healthcare company Bupa, emphasizes that the health of people and the health of the planet are closely interlinked. “We’ve been looking after people’s health for over 75 years, but we cannot continue to do our job if we’re not looking after the health of the planet as well,” he explains. “That’s why our business has taken on the planet as our latest patient.”
Bupa has launched its own internal Sustainability Academy to upskill its people – from individuals in leadership roles to those most responsible for influencing the company’s carbon impact. “By increasing their understanding of climate-related issues and how they can drive real change, they can help deliver on our sustainability goals,” says Sullivan. “We’ve also created talent programmes that encourage employees to develop their knowledge of sustainability issues and adopt an innovative approach to how these can be tackled.”
Sullivan argues that if organizations are to successfully transition to a net-zero future, they need a “transformation mindset” running through all teams. He explains: “That means ownership of the reporting progress and reducing their carbon footprint needs to sit with the entire organization, across all functions – from procurement, technology, risk and finance, M&A, to property, and for businesses like Bupa, clinical and actuarial teams, too.”
The environment and clinical care
Dr Fiona Adshead, chair of the Sustainable Healthcare Coalition, believes that clinical leadership can play a pivotal role in the net-zero transformation of healthcare. She says: “We need to redesign the system rules so that each patient care decision promotes the best health outcomes while taking into account its environmental impact.”
According to Adshead, healthcare professionals are naturally curious about the environmental impact of their care. “Clinicians care deeply about their patients and their home the planet, and want to improve the care they give,” she explains. “We’ve found that they are easily engaged by giving them easy-to-use tools to support them to make more environmentally friendly healthcare decisions.”
Furthermore, collaborative leadership has proved to be instrumental in bringing about change. Adshead explains: “We’ve found that our approach of bringing together clinicians, industry and health providers to focus on solving clinical care delivery challenges really releases energy and leads to open and honest conversations that foster innovation.”
Engaging employees on sustainability
It’s important to remember that individual mindsets play a critical role in deciding whether a sustainability agenda comes to life within in an organisation, says Dr Sally Uren OBE, chief executive of charity Forum for the Future.
“The most effective sustainability strategies are those that permeate all parts of an organisation and feel relevant to everyone, albeit in different ways,” she says. “Sustainability isn’t a tick-box exercise. True sustainability is about deep transformation; it is often about culture change. Expecting the organization to think and act differently on sustainability without workforce engagement is unrealistic.”
Uren adds that leadership plays a critical role in modelling the approach and attitude needed for ambitious sustainability strategies. “Board-level support is critical,” she notes. “Visible leadership from those with power and accountability equally so.”
