Woywodt Alexander, Kuruvilla Rebecca, Stoneman Sinead
Department of Renal Medicine, Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Preston, London,UK.
Royal College of Physicians, UK.
Future Healthc J. 2025 Mar 20;12(2):100242. doi: 10.1016/j.fhj.2025.100242. eCollection 2025 Jun.
The triple threat of changing climate, loss of biodiversity and pollution poses a significant challenge to our patients and the planet, and healthcare contributes to all three elements of the threat. The carbon footprint of continued professional development (CPD) is increasingly recognised, although a cognitive dissonance exists whereby climate change is acknowledged but air travel to conferences continues unabated. A CO allowance for CPD activities has been suggested previously. We suggest that CO footprint estimates could be incorporated into existing CPD diaries as a step towards visualising the environmental impact of CPD. Electronic CPD diaries are already widely used and typically contain dates and locations for CPD activities. It would be relatively easy and inexpensive to add an estimate of CO footprint to these diaries. Such an approach would initiate reflection, promote insight and help facilitate behavioural change. We call on institutions involved in CPD licensing, administration and documentation to trial this approach and share their experience.
气候变化、生物多样性丧失和污染这三大威胁对我们的患者和地球构成了重大挑战，而医疗保健在这三大威胁因素中都有份。持续专业发展（CPD）的碳足迹日益受到认可，尽管存在一种认知失调，即虽然承认气候变化，但前往参加会议的航空旅行仍有增无减。此前有人建议为CPD活动设定碳排放量限额。我们建议，可以将碳足迹估计值纳入现有的CPD日志中，以此作为朝着直观呈现CPD对环境影响迈出的一步。电子CPD日志已被广泛使用，通常包含CPD活动的日期和地点。在这些日志中添加碳足迹估计值相对容易且成本低廉。这种方法将引发反思，增进洞察力，并有助于促进行为改变。我们呼吁参与CPD许可、管理和记录的机构试用这种方法并分享经验。
