Making Strides in Sustainability: Health Leaders Share Lessons on Pathways to Climate Action, an interview with Greg A. Adams, Chair and Chief Executive Officer of Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc. and Hospitals

Climate change is increasingly affecting the health and well-being of people across the United States, leading to worsening health outcomes that disproportionately impact communities that have been historically marginalized. Hospitals and health systems are committed to supporting the health and well-being of the communities they serve, and there is growing recognition across the health sector about the need to address its own environmental impact and reduce carbon emissions. Through facility operations, purchased energy supply chain of goods and services, and investments, the health sector produces 8.5% of U.S. carbon emissions. Health care organizations are increasingly prioritizing sustainability initiatives that reduce this environmental impact and create a more sustainable and resilient health sector, while also having significant health, social, and economic benefits.

Greg A. Adams. Photo courtesy Kaiser Permanente

The National Academy of Medicine spoke with hospital and health system leaders about the sustainability initiatives their organizations are championing and how others in the field can take action, including concrete actions that come with up-front and long-term benefits. In this interview, Greg A. Adams, Chair and Chief Executive Officer of Kaiser Permanente, discusses strategies for setting bold targets to build successful sustainability efforts throughout the organization and prioritize health equity.

Why is decarbonizing the health sector an issue that is important to you and your organization?

As the nation’s largest nonprofit, integrated health system, Kaiser Permanente believes that where we live, the places we work and the air we breathe profoundly impact our health. We know one way to improve the health of our 12.7 million members and the more than 68 million people who live in the communities we serve is by improving their environmental conditions. We also understand that environmental conditions are a health equity priority because the health impacts of climate change disproportionately affect socially disadvantaged groups including people of color, lower-income people, children, and older adults.

What are your organization’s specific goals around addressing the sector’s environmental impact and strengthening its sustainability and resilience?

In addition to our goal of reducing our carbon emissions by 50% by 2030 and reaching net-zero emissions by 2050, we have identified several bold commitments around the other ways our operations impact climate and natural resources:

Energy: Maintaining CarbonNeutral Protocol certification and exploring the potential to reach beyond our immediate carbon footprint to further reduce and mitigate our Scope 3 emissions.
Sustainable Food: Buy all our food locally or from farms and producers that use sustainable practices, including responsible antibiotic use.
Waste Reduction: Recycle, reuse, or compost 100% of our non-hazardous waste to avoid adding to harmful methane emissions from landfills.
Water Conservation: Reduce the amount of water we use by 25% per square foot of our buildings.
Safer Products: Increase purchase of products and materials meeting our rigorous environmental standards to 50%.
Collaboration: Pursue new partnerships to reduce environmental risks to foodsheds, watersheds, and air basins supplying our communities.
Chemicals of Concern: Kaiser Permanente has also led the health care industry in eliminating harmful chemicals from medical products, building materials and furnishings in our facilities.

What successes have you had within your organization related to decarbonization, and what do you attribute those successes to? How have these accomplishments helped your organization in unexpected ways?

As a mission-driven organization dedicated to improving the health of our members and communities, we have been able to embrace sustainability at every level of our organization because of the connection we make between climate health and human health.

In terms of our sustainability milestones, in 2020, Kaiser Permanente became the first U.S. health care organization to achieve certified carbon neutral status. In 2022 we went further by committing to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2030 and aiming to reach net-zero emissions by 2050. As part of this commitment, we are working toward eliminating greenhouse gas emissions from our supply chain and from our financial investments and signed on to the U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) climate pledge in 2022.

Reducing our climate impact is not a new pursuit for Kaiser Permanente; for 25 years we have formally pursued our environmental stewardship work as part of our organization’s mission around improving health in the communities we serve. Our work to protect against climate change is embedded in our operations—in how we manage our buildings; purchase food, medical supplies and equipment; serve our members; as well as how we consume energy and process waste. The fact that this work is integrated throughout the organization with widespread input and accountability has been foundational to our success.

How can leaders within the health sector contribute to and lead sustainability efforts?

Health care leaders truly have an opportunity to leverage their voice and take action to change the conversation around climate change to center around health. We must continue to shift the narrative and focus to the health impacts that hit us close to home—such as children needing nebulizers to treat severe asthma. Through this lens we can also advocate for the need for equitable solutions because these health impacts are disproportionately felt by marginalized communities.

And we must collaborate for maximum impact. As an admittedly energy-intensive industry, the health care sector has stepped up in some important ways to collaborate and champion initiatives that allow us to work toward common goals. In addition to the HHS pledge that united dozens of health care organizations on a common path to net-zero emissions, leadership initiatives like the National Academy of Medicine’s Action Collaborative on Decarbonizing the U.S. Health Sector, the California Healthcare Climate Alliance, and organizations like Healthcare Without Harm have convened the kind of partnerships that are needed to strengthen our sector’s sustainability and resilience.

Why should other health care organizations join this movement to mitigate fossil fuel pollution and the effects of climate change?

Climate change—and its immediate and future negative health impacts—is centrally and directly related to the core mission of the health care sector’s work to improve human health. We simply cannot fulfill our commitment to “do no harm” without acting as aggressively as possible to reduce or eliminate our contributions to this global crisis. This is true of large health care providers like Kaiser Permanente that have the resources to make huge strides to eliminate our carbon footprint, and it is also true of small organizations that have opportunities to make incremental changes to improve efficiency, source renewable energy or purchase greener products.

Climate change is no longer something that’s happening in the future. It’s happening now, it’s happening in our communities, and it’s impacting people’s health. We hope our example will inspire others—in the health care industry and beyond—to take similar bold actions to mitigate their contributions to climate change.

Greg A. Adams is a co-author of a June 2023 article in Modern Health Care, “Embracing sustainability makes good business sense,” and portions of this interview informed the article.

More Resources from the National Academy of Medicine

Carbon Accounting 101. Learn more about the basics of carbon accounting through a recorded webinar series with related resources and real-world examples.

Key Actions to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions. Read a shortlist of key actions for hospitals and health systems to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.

Share the Health Leaders Interview Series

Tweet this! The health sector is making strides in sustainability. Hear from health leaders in new @theNAMedicine Climate Collaborative interview series covering lessons on pathways to climate action: nam.edu/ClimateCollaborative #ClimateActionforHealth