Green Planet, Green Care

Health and health care are shaped by climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution. At the same time, the healthcare sector itself is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, resource extraction, and waste. This creates a deep and uncomfortable contradiction: our systems designed to protect health are helping to drive the conditions that undermine it. This open-access book brings together the most important recent developments in research, policy, and practice on healthcare sustainability and translates them into concrete, actionable insights for everyday work settings. It shows how planetary health, health equity, eco-justice, and clinical quality are inseparable and why sustainability in healthcare is not optional but essential. The book is structured around core sustainability priorities in healthcare: promoting health and well-being; building knowledge and awareness of sustainable healthcare; reducing greenhouse gas emissions; advancing circular practices; and minimizing the environmental impact of medicines. Written by authors across the globe, the approaches and lessons are applicable across health systems and professional contexts. The book speaks to health workers, policymakers, managers, educators, and researchers. It offers a hopeful perspective, demonstrating how collective action within the health sector can drive meaningful change and help build healthier, fairer futures for both people and planet. This Open Access publication was made possible by the Institute for a Circular Society of the EWUU Alliance, and the Dutch Green Health Alliance.