Carbon Literacy in Healthcare – What It Is, Education and Training

As society becomes more aware of its role in causing environmental harm to the natural living world, a desire to do something positive can build.

Carbon literacy takes individuals on a journey from having ‘no knowledge’ to ‘feeling comfortable’ understanding the science behind the climate crisis, its impacts, and activities they can implement into their routines to turn intentions into positive actions.

The significance of the Carbon Literacy Project (CLP) arguably lies in the actions it inspires in the days, weeks and months after the training.

What is carbon literacy?

According to the CLP, carbon literacy is ‘an awareness of the carbon dioxide costs and impacts of everyday activities, and the ability and motivation to reduce emissions, on an individual, community, and organisational basis’.

Since the formation of the CLP in 2012, nearly 100,000 actions have been pledged from almost 50,000 people to create a positive shift in how humanity lives, works, and behaves.

There are Carbon Literacy Toolkits for multiple sectors including healthcare (https://carbonliteracy.com/toolkits/healthcare/), as well as a toolkit in development for emergency services.

Achieving Net Zero emissions in primary care

For staff to understand the importance of their general practice’s environmental sustainability mission, they must become carbon literate.

Education on what a carbon footprint is, how its measured, what it means in practice and patient care/population health is the first step in making positive changes. For healthcare staff, recognising the clinical impacts of the climate crisis and how it will affect the delivery of care in the coming decades is imperative.

Courses are available at various places, including SEE Sustainability and Carbon Literacy Project.

Behaviour change in the workplace is more effective when all staff have an improved understanding of the issue and recognise their role and what actions they can take – both individually and within the system they work.

Components of carbon literacy training

There are three key knowledge areas involved in becoming carbon literate:

1. Science
2. Impact
3. Action

Science covers topics such as ‘what are greenhouse gases?’, ‘how and where are they emitted?’, ‘where are emission hotspots (focusing on healthcare emissions)?’. For example, propellant gases in metered dose inhalers are fluorinated gases that contribute to the planet’s heating and worsen the climate and ecological crisis through their global warming potential. Understanding and acknowledging their detrimental effects can influence prescribing decisions to become more sustainable.

Impact covers the effects on staff, practices, patients, the wider society, and the natural living world. For example, weather events such as heatwaves have multiple impacts, including those on patients’ health (e.g. deaths or exacerbation of health problems). However, they also impact service provision, as heat affects transport and logistics, as well as staff, due to working in temperatures which can affect concentration and efficiency.

The Action section of carbon literacy training turns the knowledge and pledges of the student into tangible positive action. The course includes the pledge form completed by the participants for individual evaluation by the CLP for certification.

Carbon literacy training is useful for the ‘cascade effect’. Participants are encouraged to discuss their training on carbon literacy with family, friends or colleagues following the course and inspire others to act against the climate crisis.