The NHS is on track to meet its interim carbon footprint target by 2032, NHS England has revealed.

In 2020, the NHS set a target to reach net zero for direct NHS emissions by 2040, with a target to achieve an 80% reduction by 2028-2032.

A second target was set to reduce indirect emissions that the NHS can influence, known as NHS carbon footprint plus, by 80% by 2036-2039, with net zero emissions achieved by 2045.

In a report into the progress of these targets, it was revealed that the NHS was ‘on track’ for this interim target of 80% reduced carbon footprint emissions by 2032.

It stated that in the five years since the publication of the net zero strategy, there had been a 14% reduction in emissions, which is equivalent to one million people flying from London to New York.

Overall progress against the targets, which are made against a 1990 baseline, shows emissions reduced by 68% between 1990 and 2024/25, from 14.5 MtCO2e in 1990 to 4.7 MtCO2e in 2024/25.

Commenting on the report, Rachel Stancliffe, founder and CEO of the Centre for Sustainable Healthcare (CSH), said: ‘CSH congratulates the hard work of all those contributing to a 14% reduction in direct carbon emissions over the past five years. The big reduction in clinical-based emissions shows the importance of engaging healthcare professionals in taking action for sustainability.’

Achievable emission reductions

The report said that meeting the 80% reduction target would require emissions to fall to 2.9 MtCO23 by 2032, which would be a reduction of 38% over the next eight years.

‘While this will be challenging, the actions set out in this report and the projected emissions reductions associated with them demonstrate this is achievable,’ it said.

The report set out various actions across medicines, transport, estates and food. These included:

  • Improving respiratory care and introducing inhaler propellants with lower global warming potential
  • Supporting the Government to make Britain a ‘clean energy superpower’ through the delivery of a £100m Great British Energy and NHS renewable energy programme
  • The increased rollout of zero emission vehicles in the NHS fleet
  • The adoption of low-carbon heating solutions and energy efficiency measures across the NHS estate.

The report added that on the NHS carbon emissions plus target, emissions had reduced by 15% per pound of the NHS budget over the past five years, which suggests ‘progress’.

‘As the Net Zero Supplier Roadmap is implemented, a full assessment of progress against targets for the NHS Carbon Footprint Plus will be made in future years,’ it said.

The report added: ‘The Delivering a Net Zero NHS Strategy is still considered to be the right approach to decarbonisation of the NHS. Over the next five years, the NHS will maintain its commitment and accelerate the momentum created.

‘Refreshed green plans will help staff understand where they can make a difference in their own Trust or integrated care board and replicate evidence-based, best practice models of care to wider parts of the health system.’

However, Sarah Jordan, Green Space for Health programme director at the CSH, added: ‘It’s disappointing to see no mention of nature or biodiversity in the report. We know nature plays a huge role in prevention, recovery and staff wellbeing — yet the dots are not being joined here.’

In July 2024, the Royal College of Physicians published a toolkit to help physicians take action on climate change and health.

This was followed in October by a Government crackdown on waste in the NHS as part of an effort to both save money and support net zero goals.

Earlier this year, Northumbria Healthcare Foundation Trust’s emergency department became the first in the UK to achieve Gold accreditation from the Royal College of Emergency Medicine’s GreenED initiative.

A version of this article was originally published by our sister publication Healthcare Leader.