The Health Care Climate Challenge

Health Care Climate Challenge

The Health Care Climate Challenge mobilizes health care institutions around the globe to protect public health from climate change. The challenge is based on three pillars:

  1. Mitigation – Reduce health care’s own carbon footprint.
  2. Resilience – Prepare for the impacts of extreme weather and the shifting burden of disease.
  3. Leadership – Educate staff and the public about climate and health and promote policies to protect public health from climate change.

The Health Care Climate Challenge has over 350 participants, representing the interests of more than 26,000 hospitals and health centers in 43 countries. 

Hospitals, health systems, and health care facilities are invited to sign the Health Care Climate Challenge pledge and join the climate-smart health care movement.

It’s easy to get started:

  1. Sign the pledge to join the challenge.
  2. Access our resources to move toward climate-smart health care.
  3. Report your data and progress.

Join the climate challenge

After enrolling, the Health Care Climate Challenge provides participants with easy-to-use resources to help support climate-smart solutions. For Practice Greenhealth members who participate in the Environmental Excellence Awards program, data can be automatically uploaded from the Climate page. Health systems that do not submit 60% or more of their facilities and hospitals that do not submit through awards will be asked to submit data in the Hippocrates data system or using an offline form.

Download the Health Care Climate Challenge information packet for details on the challenge and how your organization can participate.

Working on reducing a hospital or health system’s climate impact doesn’t happen in a silo. This is why our most successful, leading health systems are part of the Practice Greenhealth network, where they learn about and share various strategies for mitigation, resilience, and leadership.


Climate Challenge Resources

Information packet: More about the challenge and how your organization can participate

Talking points: Guidance for presenting the Climate Challenge to your organization's leadership

Health Care Climate Challenge Pledge: an easily shareable PDF file of the pledge text

Email template from an individual to hospital: An easy way to ask your hospital to join the challenge

Email template from hospital staff to leadership: Easily make the case to your leadership