Project Overview
This project, led by the Canadian Coalition for Green Health Care in partnership with MaRS Discovery District, is focused on helping hospitals in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA) lower their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions across all areas of hospital operations, including buildings, clinical practices, and procurement. Health care contributes approximately 4 to 5 percent of global GHG emissions and more than 10 percent of global GDP. This gives the sector a unique opportunity to drive low-carbon innovation and influence broader systemic change.
Hospitals face challenges in reducing their environmental impact while continuing to provide high-quality care. Through this project, we are equipping hospital teams with tools, knowledge, and partnerships to move from planning to implementation.
Key Project Goals and Deliverables
We are working with hospitals to identify decarbonization opportunities across building systems, clinical activities, and operational procedures. This includes assessing emissions sources, planning low-carbon interventions, and developing funding-ready business cases.
We are documenting real-world innovations that reduce emissions in health care settings. Our online catalogue will highlight successful initiatives such as replacing anesthetic gases or cutting nitrous oxide waste, and will include relevant metrics, costs, and implementation tips.
Hospital staff participating in the project will be invited to join a regional Community of Practice focused on sharing lessons, exploring funding strategies, and addressing technical or organizational barriers to implementation.
As part of our project we will undertake selected case studies and videos and share project updates within our network. MaRS Discovery District will develop an article on the outcomes of this project.
Project Resources
Support Us
If you are interested in helping to build a decarbonized, climate-resilient health care system, please consider supporting this project. We are looking for health care partners who are baselining their emissions and creating decarbonization roadmaps. We are also looking for solutions to test, new collaborations to explore, and any resources to help hospitals reduce emissions.
Get in Touch
If you are interested in learning more about the project and getting involved, please contact the Decarbonization in Action team:
- William Gagnon, Director of Implementation at william@greenhealthcare.ca
- Vivian Shi, Project Manager, Technical Lead at vivian@greenhealthcare.ca
- Deveney Bazinet, Manager, Health Systems Decarbonization & Adaptation at deveney@greenhealthcare.ca
- Linda Varangu, Senior Advisor, Climate Change at linda@greenhealthcare.ca
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