The Portland Aerial Tram carrying commuters glides across city streets. Along with more than 1,000 health care organizations, OHSU has formally committed to pursuing the Biden administration’s climate goal of reducing carbon emissions by 50% by 2030 and achieving net zero emissions by 2050. (OHSU)
Oregon Health & Science University today was recognized at the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference, or COP27, for pledging ongoing action to reduce carbon emissions in the health care sector and make health care facilities more resilient to the effects of climate change.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services celebrated the important commitment by OHSU and others at the 27th international climate change conference, being held in Egypt.
Along with more than 1,000 health care organizations, OHSU has formally committed to pursuing the Biden administration’s climate goal of reducing carbon emissions by 50% by 2030 and achieving net zero emissions by 2050. OHSU recognizes climate change as a public health challenge and already has taken steps across the university to curb emissions, including: purchasing 75% of electricity from carbon-free sources; designing all new buildings to aim for LEED Gold certification; and creating an innovative transportation program for its thousands of employees to reduce single-occupancy vehicle travel — avoiding millions of pounds of carbon dioxide emissions.
Danny Jacobs, M.D., M.P.H., FACS (OHSU)
“We fully expect that a failure to address climate challenges will have detrimental consequences on public health, including access to needed health care like emergency services,” said OHSU President Danny Jacobs, M.D., M.P.H., FACS.
A September 2021 consensus statement from more than 200 medical journals named climate change the No. 1 threat to global public health. It exposes millions of people in the United States to harm every year — with disproportionate impacts on communities that are often already the victims of longstanding discrimination — through increases in extreme heat waves, wildfires, flooding, vector-borne diseases and other factors that worsen chronic health conditions. The health care sector also contributes to climate change, accounting for approximately 8.5% of U.S. domestic emissions.
The HHS Office of Climate Change and Health