REMEDY : Climate and sustainability

REMEDY has been established in a time when human-induced climate change threatens to undermine decades of progress in global health. The recent UN report on climate change has made clear the urgency for large greenhouse gas emissions reductions in all sectors to secure a liveable future.

The healthcare sector is responsible for approximately 5 % of global greenhouse gas emissions. This is more than aviation and shipping combined. Also scientific research has a significant carbon footprint.

REMEDY will take action to combat climate change and its impacts. We aim to decrease the carbon footprint of our research-related activity, but also to conduct studies with potential to shift clinical practice towards low-carbon solutions.

In June 2022, REMEDY was one of the organizers of Green congress (“Grønn kongress”), an annual national conference targeting the Norwegian rheumatology community. The conference summarizes and disseminates current international research and knowledge in our field. The aim of the arrangement is to reduce carbon emissions associated with the extensive travel- ling to international congresses and at the same time communicate international research results to as many as possible. Furthermore, we aim to increase awareness among healthcare personnel and researchers about the harms of nature- and climate change and solutions to address them. Each year we invite a climate scientist to give a speech. Speaker in 2022 was Julie Sørlie Paus-Knudsen.

We actively work to minimize the carbon footprint of Green congress itself, reducing emissions where possible (such as reducing waste, improving transport efficiencies, using certified carbon neutral products). In 2022 the arrangement received the certificate of an environmental approved event from Foundation for Environmental Education.

The onsite and virtual event was a success. 400 attended the conference and their feedback was excellent. We were also invited to the specialized health services’ environmental and climate conference in 2022, where we talked about our work with Green congress.

During 2022 REMEDY has started the planning of performing studies that evaluate healthcare-related environmental impacts. We intend to perform life-cycle assessments for quantifying the carbon footprint of different interventions in rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases. Additionally, innovative remote care projects aim to support the sustainability of the healthcare sector and reduce the carbon emissions associated with travelling to hospital visits.