Inspiring examples

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.

Read more about this success story here.

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.

ETH Zurich is a public research university in Switzerland, which focuses primarily on science, technology, engineering and mathematics. 

Working in a participatory process since 2018 with the Executive Board, departments and administrative units, ETH Zurich has committed to a reduction of 11% of their flight emissions per capita from 2019 to 2025 compared to the average for the years 2016-2018. In 2021, some of the departments increased their reduction target so that the ETH-​wide reduction target is now 15%. ETH Zurich has developed a wide range of concrete and innovative measures to achieve the reduction target.

Awareness raising in research and teaching

New tools were developed, such as factsheets on flight emissions and alternatives to air travel, a flight decision tree (7) to help staff make decisions, and a map comparing train and air travel times and CO₂ emissions (8). An Excellence Award for Sustainable Travel was launched, and courses and colloquia on flight reduction or compensation were held.  

Travel and expenses policy

ETH Zurich Business Expenses Policy (9) was updated in 2021, allowing only the most necessary business trips and preferring virtual alternatives. Flights are restricted to an absolute minimum. For business trip destinations that can be reached by train or bus in less than 8 hours’ travel time, those corresponding options are to be considered. The private use of frequent flyer miles earned on business trips is forbidden. 

Sustainable travel planning

A routeRANK travel decision tool (10), including carbon footprint data, was introduced for members of ETH Zurich. Direct flights are encouraged, as well as booking a fuel-efficient aircraft or airline. Bundling and combining travels (e.g. a conference and a project meeting) is favoured. Preference is given to train rides over flights (e.g. incentives for taking train the train, disincentives for business flights). Improved videoconferencing and virtual-conference tools have been acquired and training on virtual presentation techniques provided. Efforts are ongoing to reduce the number of staff per working group per congress without jeopardising the career prospects of young scientists.  

A new monitoring and evaluation system for flight emissions

From 2019 onwards, the flights of all organisational units are recorded in the ETH finance system, listing flight number, travel class and date. Departments and administrative units receive a monthly summary of their flight-related CO₂ emissions. This helps motivate travellers to opt for lower-​emission economy class (rather than business class flights), direct flights and airlines with more efficient fleets. 

Internal CO₂ tax

Some departments have also decided to introduce their own internal CO₂ tax (Carbon Tax) as a steering tax. The revenue will be used for teaching, research or the promotion of young talent for projects focusing on CO₂ reduction. 

The Ministry of Defence of the Netherlands is responsible for the military, national defence matters and veterans. As part of the Dutch Government’s Circular Procurement Green Deal, the Ministry of Defence of the Netherlands asked its suppliers to submit proposals for textiles that contain at least 10% recycled fibres.

Six suppliers submitted bids, however, only four were able to meet the requirements. Awarded in June 2016, the contracts were worth approximately €430,000 for towels and wash cloths, and €1.38 million for overalls, containing 36% and 14% of recycled fibres respectively. It generated estimated savings of 233 million litres of water, 69,000 kgCO2 and 23 MJ of energy.

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. (11) 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 (12). 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 (13).

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. 

Read more about this success story here.

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 (14).

Read more about this success story here.