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Sustainability @ ELFT

Sustainability @ ELFT

Welcome to Environmental Sustainability and Climate Action at ELFT. Here you’ll find all the information, plans, achievements and resources you need to join us in our vision of a sustainable healthcare system beyond fossil fuels.

Green

The climate and ecological emergency is a health emergency that demands the urgent attention of healthcare professionals and healthcare organisations. At East London NHS Foundation Trust, we are dedicated to improving the health of our communities and delivering services that are efficient and effective. From 2015 on, our Sustainability Development Management Plan delivered impressive reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.

In June 2021 ELFT declared a Climate and Ecological Emergency, with a commitment to raise awareness and drive down emissions from the work that we do. Working with all our stakeholders, service users, carers, communities, staff and partners, we have committed to a more ambitious approach.

To succeed, we must focus our effort on actions that adequately meet this challenge and integrate sustainability into all the work that we do.

We understand that the climate and ecological crisis is fundamentally a public health crisis that threatens the health of our communities. Air pollution alone accounts for thousands of excess deaths and is linked to neuro-developmental damage and dementia. The mental health impacts of the climate crisis are profound. Many of the same systemic problems and social determinants of health also contribute to the unequal effects of the climate and ecological crisis. Healthcare itself accounts for 5% of our national emissions. We will need a monumental effort from all parts of society to limit global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels and prevent the most devastating impacts of climate change both locally and globally. The health and social co-benefits of sustained action have never been clearer.

We now need to do more, much more, to reduce the Trust’s carbon footprint in all our operations. Our Green Plan outlines the ways in which we plan to reduce our emissions in the next 3 years and looks to even greater gains over the next 20 years and beyond. We are committing here to use our resources and our influence in innovative ways that are also rooted in social justice. We will continue to work alongside stakeholders and partners as we go, to ensure the plan remains fit for purpose and responds to the environment around us.

Delivering the plan will depend very much on the enthusiasm, expertise and focus of all our staff and communities. As a key part of our Trust strategy, we are committed to making the gains from this climate action plan a reality, for all our futures.
 

Join the Climate Network

If you're passionate about environmental sustainability and climate action, we invite you to join our Climate Network. By becoming a part of this network, you'll have the opportunity to connect with like-minded individuals, share ideas, and contribute to our collective efforts in addressing climate change within the healthcare sector.

Green Champion

ELFT's Green Plan

Our ELFT Green Plan outlines our comprehensive strategy and roadmap for sustainability and climate action. It details the specific initiatives and projects we are undertaking to reduce our carbon footprint and promote sustainable practices throughout our organisation. We are committed to achieving our sustainability goals and creating a positive impact on the environment.

Estates & Sustainability Team

ELFT's Carbon Footprint

NHS Greener have used data we provided to produce an assessment of our Carbon Footprint i.e. the amount of climate warming gases our trust produces.

It shows the main areas where our trust produces gases that warm the earth and which we need to reduce dramatically and rapidly. It highlights how much our travel and our supply chain contribute to the climate emergency.

ELFT Carbon Footprint

Women’s Enviromental Network Cost of Living Resources

RCPsych Animation on Climate Crisis

Health Building a Net Zero NHS

Health Environmental Sustainability in Quality Improvement

Climate Psychology Alliance >>

CPA Handbook >> 

Resource on Climate Anxiety >> 

Health Declares: Psych Declares – Health Declares >>

  • @psychdeclares on Twitter

Physio Declares >> 

  • @physio_declares on Twitter

Pharm Declares >>

  • @pharmdeclares

RCPsych Nature Matters podcast: Nature matters | Royal College of Psychiatrists (rcpsych.ac.uk)

Greener NHS >>

Centre for Sustainable Healthcare SusQI >>

Royal College of Nursing Nursing Sustainability Study Guide >>

Medact works on social justice issues as well as environmental issues, including campaigning on Health for a Green New Deal >>

  • @Health4GND
  • @Medact

Health Care Without Harm >>

Choosing Wisely >>

Doctors for Extinction Rebellion >>

  • This is a coalition of a wide range of healthcare professionals and students who, appreciating that climate change is an impending public health catastrophe undertake civil disobedience to demand that the government tell the truth about climate change and take immediate action to reduce emissions to net zero by 2025
  • Email: admin@doctorsforXR.com
  • @DoctorsXr on Twitter 

UCLA What is sustainability >> 

WHO Health Argument for Climate Action 2021 >> 

IPCC Special Report: Global Warming of 1.5 >> 

Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change >>

Grantham Institute Briefing Paper no 36: The impact of climate change on mental health and emotional wellbeing: current evidence and implications for policy and practice. May 2021. >>

Hickman, Caroline et al. Climate anxiety in children and young people and their beliefs about government responses to climate change: a global survey. The Lancet Planetary Health, Volume 5, Issue 12, e863 - e873 – open access at https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanplh/article/PIIS2542-5196(21)00278-3/fulltext

How Does Climate Change Affect Our Mental Health >> 

Special issue of the BJPsych Bulletin (Aug2021) >>

Bailey, C., Poole, N., & James, A. (2021). Crisis care: Tackling the climate and ecological emergency. BJPsych Bulletin, 45(4), 201-204. doi:10.1192/bjb.2021.33

UK Health Alliance on Climate Change report 2021 >> 

London Datastore Climate Risk Mapping. Available at: https://data.london.gov.uk/dataset/climate-risk-mapping