Anand Bhopal: Decarbonising Healthcare

Bhopal was a PhD candidate at the Department of Global Public Health and Primary Care and the Bergen Centre for Ethics and Priority Setting (BCEPS) when he received funding in 2020 through the CET Accelerator Ideas and communication scheme. The goal of Decarbonising healthcare was to develop a national strategy for decarbonization of the healthcare sector.

This was done by bringing together regional and national decision-makers, researchers, clinicians and voluntary organizations for discussions, as well as mapping existing literature and climate measures in the healthcare sector. In April 2021, they submitted input to a hearing in the Norwegian parliament on the development of a climate action plan for the healthcare sector.

National influence

Decarbonising healthcare succeeded in creating a network for the green shift in the healthcare sector by engaging key stakeholders. The project is summarized in a report with a way forward as well as op-eds and interviews in national and academic media. At the climate summit in Glasgow (COP26) Norway joined the climate summit’s health program. The Norwegian government has committed to an analysis of “vulnerabilities and adaptation needs related to climate change and health” by the end of 2022 and has a roadmap ready by the end of 2023.

The support from CET made a huge difference for Bhopal:

Receiving the CET Accelerator grant turned a loosely formed idea into a project with policy impact – within a year! The funding allowed us to hire two excellent student researchers who kept up the momentum throughout. We were able to hire an illustrator to create a beautiful final report and share printed copies along at our breakfast launch. We are really grateful to CET for supporting the project!