The NIHR Commitments to Climate, Health and Sustainability 2024–2026
From The Embassy of Good Science
ResourcesThe NIHR Commitments to Climate, Health and Sustainability 2024–2026
What is this about?
The NIHR Commitments to Climate, Health and Sustainability 2024–2026 set out how the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) aims to address climate change while improving human health and making health and social care research more sustainable. The commitments recognise that climate change is a major threat to health and that research has an important role in helping health and care systems become more resilient and reach net zero.
The strategy focuses on four key areas: reducing the environmental impact of NIHR operations; funding research on climate, health and sustainability; sharing research findings and knowledge; and building sustainability expertise and capacity among researchers. It also emphasises international and cross-sector partnerships and addressing health inequalities. Specific actions include measuring and reducing NIHR's carbon footprint, increasing funding for climate-related research, developing methods to measure research emissions, providing sustainability training, and strengthening collaboration across the research community.Why is this important?
The commitments are important because climate change directly affects human health, while healthcare and research activities themselves contribute to environmental pressures. NIHR therefore recognises that research must both help society respond to climate change and become more environmentally sustainable. The commitments encourage researchers to develop evidence and innovations that can make healthcare more sustainable, resilient and capable of reaching net zero. They also promote measuring and reducing the carbon footprint of clinical research, sharing successful sustainable practices, and building researchers' knowledge and skills. Importantly, NIHR highlights health inequalities, recognising that climate change can disproportionately affect vulnerable populations.
