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Climate change is the biggest global health threat of the 21st century.

Simultaneously the healthcare sector, responsible for 5% of global greenhouse gas emissions, contributes significantly to this issue. The US healthcare sector is responsible for a quarter of all healthcare emissions globally - if it were a country it would be the 13th biggest emitter in the world.

Surgery has a particularly high carbon footprint - the operating room is 6 times as energy-intensive as other hospital areas and contributes up to 70% of overall hospital waste.

As surgical care providers, we have a duty to the health of our patients, communities, and the planet to help reduce the environmental impact of our care.

The ‘climate change and surgery hot topics‘ project has collated the available evidence from peer-reviewed literature to create easy-to-follow, digestible practical guides for Surgery, Anesthesia, and Obstetric care providers who wish to address the issue of climate change in their place of work.

Each of the topics below provides a step-by-step guide to implementing change in a specific area, as well as potential barriers, facilitators, benefits, and cost savings.

The topics are designed to be interactive with hyperlinks embedded within the text and useful resources provided via QR codes at the bottom of each page.

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