According to the World Health Organization, climate change is the greatest threat to global health in the 21st century. It refers to the long-term warming of the planet and the resulting changes to the Earth's climate, including rising sea levels, more frequent and severe weather events, and shifts in the availability of clean water, air, and other resources.

The main cause of climate change is the increasing concentration of greenhouse gasses, such as carbon dioxide, in the atmosphere. Human activities, such as the burning of fossil fuels, deforestation, and industrial processes, have greatly increased the concentration of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere, leading to a rapid and unprecedented warming of the planet. These gasses trap heat from the sun and warm the Earth's surface. Climate change is further impacting our communities by worsening our air quality and increasing health conditions such as respiratory disease and heat-related illness.

There is still time to take action to address climate change, but the window of opportunity is closing. Governments, businesses, and individuals all have a role to play in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and adopting more sustainable practices. This will require a concerted global effort, as well as significant changes to the way we live and do business. Hence, we are on a mission to decarbonize healthcare. Today, Healthcare represents almost 20% of the US National Economy, 10% of US carbon emissions, and 5% of global carbon emissions... and growing. Rather than “doing no harm,” healthcare is actively fueling the carbon fire.

On September 28, 2021, the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) hosted a virtual event to publicly launch the Action Collaborative on Decarbonizing the U.S. Health Sector (Climate Collaborative). This meeting discussed details about the new Climate Collaborative, and included remarks from Collaborative co-chairs and health sector leadership on addressing climate change and its related health impacts. At the 48:39 mark in the video, Donald Berwick, MD, MPP, President Emeritus and Senior Fellow, Institute for Healthcare Improvement, shares his perspective on the climate crisis and challenge that lies ahead.

"The clock is ticking. I sometimes use an analogy as a physician of cardiac arrest. When someone's heart stops, nature tells us that we have 3 minutes to establish circulation, and if it is 6 minutes, the brain dies. We don't have a choice so we build our systems around the imperative of getting to the bedside and starting the heart if we can, in nature's deadline. And the climate crisis is the same now." - Donald Berwick