hide
Free keywords:
-
Abstract:
Health care is one of the largest and fastest growing service sectors in OECD countries and a significant contributor to climate change. Health care is also indispensable for human well-being. It is therefore crucial to understand how the health care sector can reduce its emissions without undermining its service quality. We break down the carbon emissions of Austrian health care in unprecedented detail over a decade starting in 2005. We calculated the carbon footprints of Austrian health care providers and further decomposed the emissions attributable to hospitals, the largest health care provider in Austria. We estimated detailed life cycle assessments of the carbon emissions attributable to energy use, the use of selected pharmaceuticals and medical goods and induced private travel.
