Commitment COP 26 | The Netherlands
As part of the preparations for the international climate conference in Glasgow in November of 2021 (COP26), the United Kingdom has launched an initiative to ask ministers of health worldwide to express their commitment to sustainable and resilient health systems. The minister of Health of the Netherlands support this initiative with the following commitments.
Climate resilient health system
The Minister of Health of the Netherlands commits to the following ambitions on climate and health resilience:
- To ensure that health risks continue to be an integral and important aspect of the National Climate Adaptation Strategy of the Netherlands
- To systematically monitor health effects that are associated with climate change in the Netherlands
- To regularly (at least every four years) conduct climate change and health vulnerability and adaptation assessments for the Dutch population
- To stimulate the health sector’s preparedness for expected effects of climate change in the Netherlands in the coming decades, especially (health effects of) heat, rising sea levels, drought and extreme weather events, such as flooding
- If necessary, to consider specific health action plans as part of the National Climate Adaptation Strategy to reduce health risks and/or coordinate and facilitate health sector preparedness
Sustainable low carbon health systems
The Government of the Netherlands has committed to reducing its carbon emissions to net zero by 2050 in the Dutch Climate Act. This Act is aimed at meeting the emission targets of the Paris Agreement. The Dutch government has put programmes and action plans in place to achieve net zero emissions for all buildings (including healthcare buildings) and strives to have net zero emission transportation by 2050 and to complete the energy transition by 2050. The health sector is part of these actions (real estate) and the programmes will feed into the emission reduction of the health sector. To further reduce the health sector’s emission’s the Minister of Health of the Netherlands commits to the following ambitions relating to climate and health sustainability:
- To regularly (at least every four years) conduct an assessment of the environmental footprint, including greenhouse gas emissions, of the health sector, including the supply chain
- To support the sector to deliver health care in an environmental sound manner (by focusing on care pathways, environmentally sound treatment guidelines, developing low carbon alternatives)
- To facilitate the development of a sustainable low carbon health care supply chain