Recent progress on carbon footprint assessment of healthcare services

Abstract As a result of the carbon-intensive nature of health care, hospital facilities are contributors to global warming. Health care’s contributions to global warming and greenhouse gas emissions include those associated with carbon emissions, energy consumption, pharmaceuticals, travel-related emissions and procurement. This article presents a review of environmental impact of different medical services. The published research articles focused on estimating the carbon footprint of healthcare services are investigated here. This review also discusses methods used for determining greenhouse gas emissions. Life cycle assessment and component analysis are the two most used methods for calculating emissions. This study also highlights the existing challenges related to estimation of carbon emission of different healthcare services and ways to overcome these challenges associated with carbon emission. The findings reveal substantial variability in carbon footprint estimates depending on region, settings, and usage patterns, with energy consumption identified as the primary source of greenhouse gas emissions. The review also addresses challenges in data availability, the accuracy of estimations, and the exclusion of critical factors like the environmental impact of medical equipment manufacturing. To mitigate healthcare’s carbon footprint, the study underscores the importance of transitioning from fossil fuels to renewable energy, minimizing unnecessary medical procedures, and promoting the use of reusable instruments. These insights are essential for developing more accurate and comprehensive strategies to reduce the carbon footprint of healthcare services globally.