Inspiring examples

Integrated into their medical and nutritional activities, ALIMA and its partner NGOs, Alerte Santé, KEOOGO and SOS Médecins organised the collection of used sachets from malnutrition treatment programs (Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food – RUTF) in Chad and Burkina Faso. These efforts prevented the release of 3 tonnes of plastic waste into the environment.

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In October 2020, the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) announced the ambitious goal to become the world’s first net-zero national health service. (1) With 62% of its emissions occurring in the supply chain, the NHS defined a clear pathway to take suppliers on the decarbonisation journey. The NHS is responsible for about 4% of Britain’s emissions. As NHS Chief Executive, Sir Simon Stevens, stated: “[…] as the biggest employer in this country comprising nearly a tenth of the UK economy, we’re both part of the problem and part of the solution”. Having clearly recognised that the climate emergency is also a health emergency, the NHS started the “For a Greener NHS” programme in January 2020 in order to define a credible path to achieving net-zero emissions. (2)

Supply chain emissions (totalling 15.6 MtCO_2e or 62% of total emissions) include the manufacturing of goods, freight, catering, business services and construction. The largest share is mostly from the manufacturing of goods such as pharmaceuticals and chemicals (32% of total supply chain emissions or 5.1 MtCO_2e), as well as medical equipment (19% of total supply chain emissions or 3.0 MtCO_2e). (3) The NHS has a large supplier base, with more than 80,000 suppliers – getting them on board to decarbonise their products and production processes is a key challenge, but also an opportunity to drive ambitious climate action.

The NHS identified three major levers to reduce emissions from its supply chain and to deliver the net-zero targets (4):

• more efficient use of supplies
• low-carbon substitutions and product innovation (5)
• ensuring suppliers are decarbonising their own processes

The decarbonisation of suppliers has been identified as the single most impactful activity in reducing the NHS Carbon Footprint Plus in the NHS “Delivering a Net Zero National Health Service” report. (6)

To make this happen, the NHS has set out clear and transparent expectations for their supplier base. By the end of the decade, the NHS will no longer purchase from suppliers that do not meet or exceed its net-zero requirements.

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Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) France has significantly reduced its share of air transport and increased the volume of goods transported by sea freight. In the 2010s, 70% of the total volume of goods was transported by air. In 2021, 67% of goods transported were by sea freight and only 29% by air. This shift has facilitated financial savings, as sea transport is much less expensive than air transport. 

This change is the result of a process of reflection carried out in collaboration with the medical management of the organisation’s entire supply chain. The planning of medical orders was identified as the main lever for improvement. Previously, many “urgent” orders, sent by air, were destined for regular projects, not emergency projects. They were most often intended to make up for stock shortages that can be anticipated and avoided through proper planning. To better plan orders and avoid the use of air transport, MSF France has developed a tool in the form of “Lead Time Performance” sheets, in which the supply process is broken down into 10 key stages.  

According to Doctors Without Borders France’s supply managers, it is possible to go further. Medicines that need to be kept in a cold chain could be transported in refrigerated sea containers with a constant internal temperature of between 2° and 8°. 

Read more about this success story here.

Painting the roofs of buildings white helps cool buildings and cities.  A white “cool roof” reflects the sun’s heat back to the sky, thus limiting the heat generated on the roof of, and inside, the building. It is a simple and effective climate and cost-savings solution that has already been proven around the world. In countries with a warm climate, such as Southern Europe or North Africa, it is common to see traditionally white buildings. This centuries-old practice is gaining renewed interest to become more energy-efficient and to limit the urban heat island effect. 

Since 2010, New York City has repainted 10 million square metres of building roofs in white. (7) As a consequence, the use of air conditioners has been reduced by 40%.  

From the roofs of supermarkets to those of warehouses and public buildings such as schools and hospitals, initiatives are multiplying (8). In 2015, the Quimper E. Leclerc supermarket covered its 6,097m2 roof with a special white paint. In three years, energy consumption has fallen by more than 45%, from 1,250 to 750 Kva. 175 tons of CO2 are saved per year, as well as €20,000 in electricity savings and €5,000 in maintenance savings, for a low cost (less than €20/m²), providing a high return (9).

The IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) states that “painting roofs white would save 1Gt/year of greenhouse gas emissions, equivalent to 250 million vehicles”, and that it is one of the quickest and cheapest solutions to adapt and mitigate climate change. 

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Gravit’eau mobile handwashing stations use a very small amount of water thanks to an automatic recycling system. Ideal for crisis and water shortage situations, Gravit’eau safely reduces water consumption by up to 99% per handwash compared to other methods. Water for hand washing is discharged by operating a foot pump. The wastewater is collected in a tank and automatically filtered by a membrane. The filtration membrane is extremely fine and does not allow bacteria or viruses to pass through. The whole system works by gravity. This technology allows water to be recycled without electricity, without complex maintenance and without continuous chemical input. In addition to hand washing, other uses for this filtration technology are being explored for larger quantities of water, including treatment of domestic wastewater used for cooking or personal hygiene (10).

Read more about this success story here.