At HCWH Europe, our vision is that every European country develops a national decarbonisation plan for its healthcare sector. With the support of our project partners ARUP, we have established Operation Zero - a groundbreaking project to put the European healthcare sector on the path to net zero carbon emissions, in line with European and international climate commitments.
Designing net zero roadmaps for healthcare
Through Operation Zero, we have developed and piloted a new methodology that any national or regional health authority can use to measure its healthcare emissions and establish a decarbonisation roadmap that achieves net zero by 2050.
Methodology
Designing a net zero roadmap for healthcare provides a framework to create a decarbonisation roadmap for healthcare systems. This includes how to calculate a carbon footprint, model emissions trajectories, and develop the appropriate governance structures to support the process.
This technical methodology is primarily aimed at analysts working within national or regional health authorities, but also includes guidance for policy officials. It was piloted by three national and regional health authorities, ensuring that it is robust and ultimately drives action among European health systems.
Policy brief: Charting a Course to Net Zero Emissions for the European Healthcare Sector
As part of the project, Health Care Without Harm (HCWH) Europe developed a policy brief to offer actionable recommendations to national and sub-national health systems, ministries of health, and other governmental organisations derived from developing roadmaps to decarbonise health systems.
National healthcare decarbonisation roadmaps
Phase one | 2021 - 2022
- Italy | Department of Epidemiology Lazio Regional Health Service
- The Netherlands | National Institute for Public Health and the Environment and the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport
- Portugual | Central Administration of the Health System
HCWH Europe initially partnered with three national and regional health authorities to develop and pilot this methodology, supporting them to generate detailed climate footprint analyses and decarbonisation roadmaps. Through these pilots, we gained valuable feedback on the practicalities and limitations of developing decarbonisation roadmaps that helped to build a more rigorous methodology.
Phase two | 2023 - ongoing
Building on the lessons learned in phase one, we have been working with two further national health authorities to generate detailed climate footprint analyses and decarbonisation roadmaps for their health systems using the Operation Zero methodology. The Health Service Executive (Ireland) and the National Environment-Health Action Plan (Belgium) are working with HCWH Europe and Arup on Operation Zero.
Belgium published their report on the greenhouse gas emissions of the country’s health sector, as well as a decarbonisation roadmap and an implementation framework, in February 2025.
We are also developing a community of practice comprising health authorities driving action towards net zero carbon emissions within the European healthcare sector. They will help refine the methodology and ensure it is applicable to health systems across Europe and beyond.
Project partners
Funded by the European Union, the IKEA Foundation, and the Skoll Foundation. Views and opinions expressed are however those of Health Care Without Harm (HCWH) Europe only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union, CINEA, the IKEA Foundation, or the Skoll Foundation. The European Union, CINEA, the IKEA Foundation, and the Skoll Foundation cannot be held responsible for them.
Subscribe for Climate-smart healthcare news
Sign up to receive our issue-specific news bulletins for the Climate-smart healthcare programme