(AGENPARL) – ROME mar 20 giugno 2023

More than 700 healthcare stakeholders recently convened in Pittsburgh for CleanMed 2023, with sustainability experts, clinicians, procurement teams, and food service providers, among others, coming together with the shared objective of driving sustainability across the healthcare space. Despite post-pandemic challenges and resource constraints, momentum has been building around a sustainable, decarbonized, and healthier future for the industry.

Edison Energy’s Sustainability Team was there to cheer on our clients’ good work, support ongoing decarbonization efforts across the healthcare sector, and engage on the evolution of healthcare as we look ahead to 2030 and beyond.

Here are our top takeaways:

1. The industry is coalescing around core decarbonization goals.

While healthcare has not raced out of the gate to tackle value chain emissions like some other sectors, that narrative has been dramatically shifting. More hospital networks are joining the Health Sector Climate Pledge, aligning the industry around a 50% reduction in organizational emissions by 2030 and net zero by 2050.

Still, to meet these goals, organizations will need a clearer understanding of where they are starting from, including a comprehensive Scope 1, 2, and 3 inventory (Figure 1).

Through our partnerships with hospital networks, we have seen the value and impact of walking our clients through the inventory development process. This has enabled them to make clearer, more distinct connections between their existing sustainability initiatives and to identify other opportunity areas that may have otherwise been overlooked.

Figure 1. GHG emissions sources of a representative nonprofit U.S. health care system (Source: Practice Greenhealth)

2. Achieving decarbonization goals requires engagement with multiple stakeholders.

Success cannot be achieved in a vacuum. Conversations will need to extend beyond the typical sustainability stakeholders (think facilities and fleet operators) to include team members across the broader organization and those in the supply chain. This will serve to embed sustainable practices within the healthcare system while still maintaining a high level of patient care.

Greening the operating room will require conversations with doctors and nurses to reduce medical waste and mitigate waste anesthetic gases. Procurement teams, clinicians, third-party vendors, and government regulators will be needed for product innovation across the Medtech industry to decarbonize select Scope 3 sources. Identifying and integrating the necessary players into the conversation at the start will increase the likelihood of success.

As sustainability consultants, we often find that beyond providing technical expertise, our most critical role has been to serve as facilitators and translators, bringing together internal and external stakeholders up and down the value chain to align on shared priorities and opportunities.

3. The IRA has changed the calculus for healthcare networks seeking to implement decarbonization projects.

Hospital networks may want to reevaluate renewable energy and energy efficiency projects they had passed on previously. Incentives in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) are changing the financial viability of projects and may offer an opportunity to further decarbonize healthcare facilities, particularly for nonprofit systems that had formerly been ineligible for select tax incentives.

IRA highlights that relate to healthcare include:

• Extension of the Investment Tax Credit (ITC) and Production Tax Credit (PTC) through 2032
• Eligible projects expanded to include standalone battery storage, microgrids, RNG, hydrogen, and utility interconnection costs
• Improved third-party finance options
• New options to monetize tax credits including direct pay and transfer of credits
• Incentive adders available for projects in a designated low income or energy community

Because IRA guidance is continually trickling out from the IRS and procedural/timing rules remain subject to future regulations, it is important to follow implementation of the IRA as it evolves.

4. Community engagement goes hand in hand with healthcare sustainability.

Somewhat unique to healthcare organizations is the role they play as anchor community institutions, both in serving affected communities during climate-related events and working in the community to address health inequalities and vulnerabilities. This role is underscored by commitments within the Health Sector Climate Pledge that require development of a climate resilience strategy, with a focus on communities at greatest risk of being disproportionately impacted by climate change.

Achieving climate-resilient health systems and communities, however, cannot be achieved without engaging local community organizations to establish long-term, trust-based relationships and ensuring that community leaders have a seat at the table. Some ways to engage include:

• Forming partnerships with local organizations to communicate the health impacts of climate-related stressors
• Working with local governments to ensure that community systems, such as public transit, are prepared for climate impacts
• Procuring from local businesses to diversify and decarbonize the supply chain, including sourcing locally grown produce
• Understanding who you are engaging with while working to build a shared language

To learn more about Edison Energy’s Sustainability Advisory practice and the expertise we provide to our partners, including those in the healthcare space, please get in touch.

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