Healthcare groups have produced a roadmap to achieve net zero emissions by 2050 in the sector, saying they have a responsibility to take climate action.
The roadmap will be released in Australia on Friday by the Climate and Health Alliance and Global Green and Healthy Hospitals (GGHH) network.
GGHH spokeswoman Carol Behne says the plan will help healthcare institutions reduce their emissions, urging the government to make it policy.
"It is critical that the health sector plays its part in cutting emissions to tackle climate change, the biggest health challenge we face," she said.
"This roadmap shows how the health sector can achieve zero emissions and uphold its moral imperative to 'do no harm'."
The plan maps out three pathways for the healthcare sector, with the first focused on decarbonising healthcare delivery and operations.
The other two widen the sector's areas of responsibility for emissions to include supply chains and the economy more broadly.
The two key actions across the pathways are to power health care with 100 per cent clean, renewable energy and to invest in zero emissions buildings and infrastructure.
It comes after climate scientists warned 1.5 degrees Celsius average warming could occur during the 2030s, urging the government to aim for net zero emissions by 2035.
Australian Associated Press
