​​​​What's the news. The global healthcare sector would be the fifth largest greenhouse gas emitter on the planet if it were a country, says the September 2019 report Health Care's Climate Footprint from Health Care Without Harm, an international nongovernmental organization. Based on data from 43 countries, the report identifies key healthcare sources of greenhouse gas emissions and makes recommendations on how to align global health and global climate-change mitigation goals.

Why it matters. Energy use is responsible for more than half of global healthcare emissions, and fossil fuel combustion is at the heart of healthcare's effect on climate change, the authors say. Risk managers can share these findings with leadership to aid in discussion of current practices or in planning (for instance, the possibility of using renewable energy sources).

How ECRI Institute can help. The guidance article The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency discusses several energy reduction methods, such as practicing environmentally preferable purchasing (such as ENERGY STAR–rated products), and performing energy audits of facilities.