The College’s ambition for sustainability and climate change

Supporting our membership to respond to the climate crisis and advocating for a healthier future for women and girls

“A key priority for my term of office as president will be to work with the membership to bring about meaningful change in response to the climate crisis. The College has made great strides in recent years to make its operations more sustainable. I wish to build on this work to date and support meaningful changes in the way we practice to ensure we become increasingly more sustainable in the way we all deliver care.” – RCOG President Dr Ranee Thakar

Why sustainability matters in women's health

The climate and ecological crisis affects women's sexual and reproductive health and rights, from the streets of the UK, where air pollution limits lives and affects pregnancy outcomes, to the severe disruption to health care experienced by women and girls living in areas most vulnerable to the effects of increasingly extreme weather.

As a leading voice in women’s health, the RCOG is committed to embedding sustainability and equity across our clinical guidance, advocacy, operations, and programmes of work. This includes a strong focus on racial equity, recognising the deep links between environmental injustice and health inequality.

Progress and actions

Green Maternity: working together for sustainable, equitable care

Maternity care must change. It contributes to NHS carbon emissions and is shaped by deep inequalities in access, experience and outcomes.

Green Maternity is a national programme driving collective action to build a lower carbon, fairer maternity system. It brings together NHS teams, clinicians and people with lived experience to take on the biggest challenges in care today.

Through local improvement projects, expert mentoring and public involvement, the programme turns ideas into action. Its findings are shared through the Green Maternity Challenge, conference and flagship report, which sets out eight priorities to guide future change.

Becoming a sustainable College

The RCOG is a member of the UK Health Alliance on Climate Change (UKHACC), a coalition of health professionals advocating for action on climate and health.

Environmental sustainability is one of our strategic goals for 2020-2025. We have committed to reducing our carbon emissions by 50% by 2030 (from a 2019 baseline) and are taking action across the College to meet this ambition.

Examples include:

Improving building operations, reducing waste and switching to 100% renewable electricity
Replacing single-use plastics with reusable or plant-based materials
Enhancing biodiversity at Union Street, including our wildflower meadow and beehives. See our beehives at 10 Union St streaming live.
Reducing business travel and reviewing our investment strategy
Expanding digital exams, education and events to reduce environmental impact

Advocacy, policy and influence

We work across the sector and with policy makers to highlight the health impacts of environmental injustice, and support change that protects women and girls.

Key actions include:

Publishing an air pollution position statement and contributing to UK Government consultations
Hosting a parliamentary roundtable with RCPCH and people with lived experience
Collaborating on UKHACC’s policy work on clean air, fossil fuel phase-out and climate justice
Contributing to the UK policy brief for the Lancet Countdown on Climate and Health
Advocating for cleaner air and climate action which responds to women’s health needs.

Supporting our membership

As part of our membership package, we released a three part course on climate and health. The course explores the impact of climate change on health, the contribution of healthcare to environmental damage, the concept of carbon hotspots and carbon footprinting, The principles of sustainable clinical practice and other ways health workers are influencing environmental policy and action. It is free to access via RCOG Learning.

In July 2023, Dr Ranee Thakar hosted a member workshop to shape the College’s response to climate and health. See the workshop summary and slides.

College representatives have also been involved in the development of the upcoming Green Surgery Report, a national initiative funded by the Health Foundation which provides an evidence-based guide and recommendations on how to mitigate the carbon footprint associated with surgical practice.

For more information please see Dr James Phillips blog.

Spotlighting key issues at our annual World Congress has been a priority in recent years, with sessions on women’s health and climate change, sustainability and health from Greener NHS lead, and air pollution in pregnancy available to attendees.

Get involved

Learn

RCOG Modules on Climate and Health:

For further sustainability training, the 'Building a Net Zero NHS' training module is an introductory session available freely to all NHS staff. The accessible 30-minute session has already gained significant traction, with over 50,000 launches in its first two years. It can be accessed here.

The ‘Carbon Literacy for Healthcare eLearning Pathway’ is a great follow up to the ‘Building a Net Zero NHS’ training to expand your knowledge and involvement in climate sustainability; accessed here.

BMJ series Sustainable practice: what can I do?
A new BMJ series offers tangible actions clinicians can take to reduce the carbon footprint of healthcare. Use this tool to find ideas for making your practice more environmentally friendly, from articles published in The BMJ, or submit your own article ideas.

Join

The Centre for Sustainable Healthcare Women's Health Sustainability Network:
An online community of healthcare professionals committed to tackling the environmental impact of women's health. The Network aims to foster collaboration between obstetricians, gynaecologists, midwives, sexual health practitioners, nurses, researchers, educators, and students to improve the sustainability of our specialty by sharing knowledge, ideas and examples of good practice.

Read

Giudice C L et al, Climate change, women’s health, and the role of obstetricians and gynecologists in leadership (2021)
A special article in the International Journal of Gynecology & Obstetrics (IJGO) looking at the processes by which increasing levels of greenhouse gasses are impacting sexual and reproductive health and rights and maternal, newborn and child health. See also the IJGO special issue on the impact of global warming on women’s health.
UK Health Alliance on Climate Change calls for action
Read the health community’s recommendations for cleaner air for all, a transition away from fossil fuels, sustainable diets