How to Achieve Net Zero Carbon at ICS level; Learning From Birmingham And Solihull

The NHS Carbon Footprint (emissions under NHS direct control) needs to be net zero by 2040, with an ambition for an interim 80% reduction by 2028-2032.

Birmingham and Solihull integrated care system (ICS) serves a population of 1.3 million people in the West Midlands region. Within the area there are 5 NHS Trusts, 3 Councils and a multitude of GP Practices. We are committed to developing, understanding, and reducing our environmental impact and ensure we progress towards sustainable healthcare. In 2021 we commissioned AA Projects to produce an Annual Sustainability Report which was the starting point in terms of collating the data from across the organisations which sit within the ICS.

It is acknowledged that each of the 5 Trusts are at different stages of their progress towards Net Zero Carbon, the propose of the report was to set a framework for reporting on the sustainability measures which have been achieved annually. The report establishes a baseline for all organisations and maps the progress to date and highlights areas where information may be missing, or further action is required. There are 21 recommendations which cover the short, medium and long term.

The report will be updated annually updated to show the progress we are making at ICS level in terms of meeting the NHS overall target of Net Zero Carbon by 2040.

The ICS has formed a Green Board and has sustainability representatives from all stakeholder trusts and national property companies. Additionally we have local authority members and ICS programme leads for medicines management, primary care, procurement, people and digital. We have developed a communications strategy and trained exec leads on carbon literacy. We have appointed an Exec Lead to Chair the Board.