LAST UPDATED:
3 March 2023
At the invitation of His Majesty King Charles III, in his former role as His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales, Pascal Soriot convened 13 leaders from across the healthcare system to form a Health Systems Task Force as part of the Sustainable Markets Initiative (SMI). Collectively, the group aims to accelerate the delivery of net zero, sustainable healthcare to improve individual, societal and planetary health.
Formally launched at COP26, the SMI Health Systems Task Force is championed by our Chief Executive Officer, Pascal Soriot, and brings together CEOs or equivalents from global life sciences, healthcare systems, multilateral and policy institutions and academia.
Recognising that the healthcare sector must do more to drive progress towards a sustainable future, Task Force members AstraZeneca, GSK, Merck KGaA, Roche, Samsung Biologics, Sanofi, Novo Nordisk, the World Health Organization, UNICEF, NHS England, the Sustainable Healthcare Coalition and the Karolinska Institutet and the University of Pavia, have committed to developing a collective roadmap to a sustainable health system.
Ahead of COP27, in November 2022 CEOs from seven Task Force members announced joint action to achieve near-term greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets aligned to the 1.5°C pathway and accelerate the delivery of net-zero health systems.
To support health systems stakeholders accelerate towards net zero, the Task Force also published three White Papers outlining practical recommendations and scalable actions.
The Task Force is partnering also with the WHO-convened Alliance for Transformative Action on Health and Climate (ATACH) to provide recommendations to over 60 governments that have committed at Minister of Health level to deliver climate resilient and low carbon health systems.
Accelerating the delivery of net-zero health systems
With approximately 5% of greenhouse gases coming from the healthcare sector, it’s imperative that we take action and make healthcare more sustainable – for the health of people, society and the planet.The SMI Health Systems Task Force has a key role to play, and I am honoured and excited to be working with other like-minded leaders to drive change. Together, we can harness the power of innovation and shape and advance policies that will accelerate the delivery of net-zero healthcare.
In coordination with other SMI Task Forces, the Health Systems Task Force is focusing its attention on delivering action in the following three priority areas:
1. Digital healthcare
The aim is to leverage digital innovation and technology to drive the transition to net-zero across health systems, with an initial focus on decarbonising clinical trials.
2. Supply chains
The Task Force aims to accelerate the net-zero transition across health systems supply chains, recognising that approximately 50% of healthcare emissions come from the product supply chain.
3. Patient care pathways
Keeping patients at the centre, it is critical to focus on identifying opportunities to deliver net-zero patient care while improving health and societal outcomes.
The Task Force also focuses on the development of initiatives and shared commitments in the areas of:
The measurement of and metrics for the assessment of the environmental impact of health systems; and
Education and wider policy change
