The Trust have created and published its third iteration of their Green Plan, which outlines its strategy for achieving Net Zero and becoming one of the greenest Trust’s in the UK.
It said it has significantly reduced its NHS reportable carbon footprint by 36 per cent since monitoring started in 2013/14. The strategic objectives and actions set out in the Green Plan are underpinned by a range of supporting documents, such as the Greener Care Plan, the Travel Plan, the Estates Decarbonisation Strategy, a Climate Change Adaptation Plan and the future ambition to deliver the Net Zero building standard ‘Hospitals of the Future’ Project.
This targeted approach will continue to ‘steer the Trust on their aspired carbon reduction trajectory’, the Trust said.
Craige Richardson, Executive director of Estates and Facilities said: “Sustainable, low carbon services are crucial to delivering high-quality care for our patients. This Green Plan builds upon the previous two Green Plans we have published and identifies a framework of interventions across nine key focus areas that are needed to help us become one of the greenest NHS hospital Trusts in the UK and, as an Anchor Institution, play a vital role in reducing carbon emissions across Leeds.
“Our ambition to achieve net zero by 2040 is achievable through the delivery of our Sustainable Action Plan, with clear leadership and accountability across the organisation.”
Leeds City Council (LCC) declared a climate emergency in 2019.
The trust added that ‘climate change has been deemed the greatest threat to health of the 21st century. The increase in storms, floods, droughts, and heatwaves poses a significant threat to health, increasing cases of cancer and other diseases, and exacerbating the already existent burden on the healthcare sector’.
Chris Kelly, Associate director of Estates Compliance and Risk said: “The Trust has already made significant progress in reducing its carbon footprint and environmental impact through a transition to a more sustainable service delivery model. There are undoubtedly significant challenges ahead to continue to maintain the trajectory required to deliver net zero 2040, but this Green Plan and the roadmap of interventions we have laid out are the key milestones to achieve that ambition.’’
The Trust added that the ‘next steps toward this goal are outlined in the Sustainable Action Plan, a structured approach coordinated by the Trust Sustainability team, which details specific actions, timelines and goals, for further embedding sustainability into all aspects of the organisation’s operations over the next 3 years’.