Climate Action

Given that the health sector is a heavy user of resources, we have identified projects and initiatives to green our operations. With energy accounting close to 95 per cent of our reportable greenhouse gas emissions, energy conservation and emission reductions is a key area of focus for greening operations. Examples of some initiatives to green our operations include:

• Focusing on energy reduction projects that keep our facilities running - installing high efficiency boilers, chillers, building automation and controls, chiller replacements and lighting retrofits to name a few
• Identifying and developing a pathway to transition our gas-powered vehicles and infrastructure to support more electric vehicles, both in our fleet and public parking areas
• Collaborating with our supply chain partner to embed and assess our product and service procurements using environmentally-friendly procurement principles 
• On-site recycling programs at most of our facilities to divert waste from landfills

As part of our strategy, we focus on creating sustainable workplaces through:

• Involving our teams through a green-team program known as Sustainability Associates 
• Collaborating through partnerships and establishing communities of practice, within our organization and across provincial/municipal governments, Indigenous peoples, industry, academia and non-profit organizations to achieve environmental goals

Building more climate literacy and capacity of our staff to consider the environment in our day-to-day work, is a core tenet of our Sustainability Associates program. In 2021, we began a process to revamp how we engage with teams on environmental sustainability in our organization.

With direction from CleanBC, and the Climate Preparedness and Adaptation Strategy, we have started to better understand how the following effects of climate change may pose risks to critical infrastructure, the way we deliver services and to the health of our populations:

• Coastal erosion
• Thawing permafrost
• Increases in heat waves & droughts
• Wildfires
• Flooding
• Ecosystem changes

We understand that responses to climate change require both:

• Reductions to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions
• Increasing the resilience of assets, services and operations by adapting to a changing climate 

Along with our efforts to green our operations, we are taking action to improve our understanding of the risks posed by the impacts of climate change to our assets, services and operations. There is a lot of work that still needs to be done, including: 

• Incorporating and/or strengthening the consideration of climate change in our planning, program design and delivery considerations
• Integrating climate change adaptation into the design, construction and operation aspects of capital projects
• Applying climate resilient building design principles into our new building designs and retrofits
• Increasing training and support on assessing climate change impacts, undertaking climate change risk assessments and developing adaptation actions, and facilitating sharing of best practices and lessons learned

Alongside our efforts to engage our employees around environmental sustainability initiatives, we complete a yearly report known as the Climate Change Accountability Report, formerly known as the Carbon Neutral Action Report. 

Other reports of interest include:

• Strategic Energy Management Plan
• Interior Health Sustainability Policy
• BC Climate Action Plan 
• Climate Change Accountability Act

This strategic plan provides a situational analysis of current and past energy performance for our portfolio of buildings, outlines actions to control energy costs and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and includes a commitment to work toward alignment with B.C.’s long-term climate goals through 2050.

Read the full plan