Diagnosing the Carbon Impact of Healthcare

How can healthcare professionals act on climate change — concretely?

In this interview, Dr Véronique Hentgen from Versailles, France interviews Mathis Egnell, engineer at The Shift Project, about measuring the carbon impact of the healthcare system.

Just like in medicine, diagnosis comes first: we must understand where greenhouse gas emissions come from — transport, buildings, medications, care pathways — before we can reduce them effectively.

One key takeaway from The Shift Project’s work: Reducing carbon intensity alone will not make the healthcare system sustainable in the long term.

Two complementary levers are essential:

• Upstream: prevention and health promotion to reduce disease incidence and severity

• Downstream: reducing non-pertinent care through stronger “just care” policies

🎙️ Interview in French with English subtitles available.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MB4mJsBpfmE