COP27 – the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference – has officially started. How we can we help the fight against climate change here at the Royal Free London? 

 

Find out more about our green plan

The Royal Free London is taking action to create a greener NHS. As the world tackles the climate emergency, we will do more to care for our environment and play our part in helping the NHS reach net zero carbon emissions by 2040. We are committed to helping the fight against climate change – focussing on the way our staff and patients travel to our buildings, how we manage our estate and how we consume resources, to how we reduce waste and recycle more. We will be a role model organisation for everybody who walks through our doors.

To help us work toward this we have made the following commitments:

  • We will ensure 100% of our purchased electricity is from renewable sources by April 2022
  • We will invest more in low energy LED light, as well as integrating and expanding sub-metering coverage by 10% for water and electricity
  • We will improve local air quality by having RFL anti-idling policy in place and awareness raising
  • We will expand our cycle parking spaces and EV charging points for staff and visitors
  • We will implement meat free hospital days for staff and visitors, increasing plant-based menu options and install a digital meal ordering system for more accurate meal planning, reducing food waste
  • We will prescribe low carbon inhalers where clinically appropriate. We will do this by education, advocacy and empowerment of staff and patients. We will target 75% of our initial prescriptions as greener inhalers
  • We will implement reusable IIR masks in non-clinical areas, reusable P3 masks in clinical areas that currently use FFP3 and locally manufactured reusable isolation gowns at all our sites
  • We will implement cleaner vehicles in our decontamination unit - 50% of our fleet and 75% of our factory forklift trucks will be electric
  • We will include staff responsibility for sustainability in job descriptions and PDPs, supported by e-learning to cover planet health and the green plan
  • We will reduce our waste volumes by tracking our rates of key waste streams and improving segregation and recycling rates
  • We will support our staff through advice and education. We will encourage them to take practical steps to reduce carbon footprint in their daily activities at home/work and improve their carbon literacy