Climate Change Toolkit for Health Professionals

The Climate Change Toolkit for Health Professionals, published by the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE), is a comprehensive guide designed to empower healthcare workers to act as educators and advocates. It details the science of anthropogenic climate change, the disproportionate health risks faced by vulnerable populations, and the specific regional vulnerabilities across Canada. The document emphasizes 'health co-benefits'—the immediate health improvements resulting from climate mitigation, such as reduced air pollution from phasing out coal and improved cardiovascular health through active transportation. It provides a framework for health care facilities to assess their own climate resiliency and reduce their carbon footprints, while offering strategies for health professionals to engage patients, peers, and policymakers in the transition to a low-carbon economy.

• Human activity has increased atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations from 315 ppm in 1958 to approximately 410 ppm by the end of 2018, contributing to an average of 1°C of global warming since pre-industrial times.
• Global warming of 2°C by 2100 is projected to expose over one-third of the world's population to severe heatwaves at least once every five years, nearly triple the exposure seen in a 1.5°C scenario.
• Climate change is expected to cause an additional 250,000 deaths per year between 2030 and 2050 due to heat, undernutrition, diarrhoeal disease, and malaria.
• In Canada, air pollution is estimated to cause approximately 14,400 premature deaths annually, with fine particulate matter (PM2.5) from fossil fuels accounting for 7,142 of those deaths.
• Canada's greenhouse gas emissions grew nearly 17% from 1990 to 2016, primarily driven by the oil and gas sector (+16%) and transportation (+7%).
• Alberta is Canada's highest emitting province, responsible for about 37% of total national GHG emissions in 2016, with a per capita emission rate of 62.7 t CO2eq.
• The Canadian health care sector's life-cycle emissions represented approximately 4.6% of total national GHG emissions in 2015, with emissions increasing at double the national average rate (10% vs 5%) between 2009 and 2015.
• Phasing out coal-fired power plants in Canada by 2030 and replacing them with two-thirds renewables and one-third gas-power could create $5 billion in health benefits and reduce GHG emissions by 31 Mt CO2eq.
• Transitioning to 80% wind, water, and solar energy by 2030 and 100% by 2050 could save Canada approximately 9,900 air pollution-related deaths and USD $110 billion in annual health costs by 2050.
• Health care facilities (HCFs) in Canada have the highest energy use intensity of all commercial and institutional buildings, at 2.45 Gigajoules per square meter.
• Inhalation anesthetic gases, particularly nitrous oxide and Desflurane, are potent GHGs; over 95% of these gases are vented directly into the environment during use.
• Northern Canada is warming faster than the global average, with some regions like the Yukon and North B.C. Mountains seeing a 5.7°C increase in winter temperature averages over the past 71 years.

APA

Perrotta, K., Doyle, H. M., Macfarlane, R., McGushin, A., Mee, C., Plumptre, B., Ribesse, J., & Varangu, L. (2019). Climate Change Toolkit for Health Professionals. Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment. https://cape.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Climate-Change-Toolkit-for-Health-Professionals-Updated-April-2019-2.pdf

Chicago

Perrotta, Kim, Helen Marie Doyle, Ronald Macfarlane, Alice McGushin, Carol Mee, Bora Plumptre, Jérôme Ribesse, and Linda Varangu. Climate Change Toolkit for Health Professionals. Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment, 2019. https://cape.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Climate-Change-Toolkit-for-Health-Professionals-Updated-April-2019-2.pdf.

Wikipedia

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BibTeX

@techreport{perrotta2019climate, author = {Perrotta, Kim and Doyle, Helen Marie and Macfarlane, Ronald and McGushin, Alice and Mee, Carol and Plumptre, Bora and Ribesse, Jérôme and Varangu, Linda}, title = {{Climate Change Toolkit for Health Professionals}}, institution = {Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment}, year = {2019}, month = apr, url = {https://cape.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Climate-Change-Toolkit-for-Health-Professionals-Updated-April-2019-2.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }