The climate impact of national health systems: annual per capita health care-related greenhouse gas emissions

Figure note: data specific to 2015 and sourced from Lenzen et al., 2020; Unit, metric tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents per capita per year. Green indicates lower per capita health care-related greenhouse gas emissions, while red indicates higher per capita health care-related greenhouse gas emissions. Three countries were excluded from the Lenzen et al., (2020) dataset (Greenland, Curaçao, and Kyrgyzstan), because their per capita emissions were so high that using color to represent the relative differences between countries became difficult (range: 6-68 tCO₂-e/capita/year).

Suggested citation: HealthcareLCA (2023). The climate impact of national health systems: annual per capita health care-related greenhouse gas emissions [Figure]. Published online at HealthcareLCA.com. Retrieved from: healthcarelca.com/per-capita-greenhouse-gas-emissions-of-health-systems [Online Resource].

References:  

Lenzen M, Malik A, Li M, Fry J, Weisz H, Pichler PP, Chaves LS, Capon A, Pencheon D. The environmental footprint of health care: a global assessment. The Lancet Planetary Health. 2020 Jul 1;4(7):e271-9.

First published: January 5, 2021

Last updated: March 23, 2023

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