A growing awareness and commitment to making veterinary practice more environmentally sustainable is evident across our profession. The British Veterinary Association are championing greener veterinary practice, particularly through their series of webinars run this year in conjunction with Vet Sustain and VDS Training (for those that missed the series you can catch up by following links available here). Vet Sustain have built a network of ‘champions’ that are forming a community of like-minded individuals throughout veterinary establishments in the UK and the BEVA sustainability working group is gathering pace and hopefully growing the momentum for driving a change towards more sustainable equine veterinary practice.
Any working group, or network of like-minded individuals, or even ‘just’ the lone practice environmental enthusiast risks stagnating in their ideas for change or becoming overwhelmed by the sheer scale of the climate crisis that looms over us. As this post goes to press, COP27 has opened in Egypt, with the media reporting the stark news that the Earth is on the brink of ‘passing climate tipping points, risking irreversible change’. This is the time when we can choose to feel powerless or strive to keep up the good fight and indeed develop that good fight into a long lasting mechanism for change. Earlier issues of BEVA eNews have mentioned the concept of ‘One Health,’ a term that is frequently well understood by many in the veterinary profession, concerning the intertwining of animal, human and environmental health. The relationship and risks of disease transmission at the human-wildlife interface is accepted by veterinary and medical professionals. Yet One Health is not confined to disease risk and surveillance, nor to the global emergency of multi-species antimicrobial resistance, amongst the many other topics that fall under the One Health umbrella. As veterinary professionals we have an opportunity to work with and learn from our colleagues in the human health fields. Such collaboration can extend to the sharing of ideas for becoming more sustainable in our respective professional practice for the good of environmental health.
What, then, are those other professionals doing about the issue? In 2020, ‘Healthcare Ocean’ was founded by two UK physicians and now consists of a group of individuals from healthcare, marine science, environmental and public health and commercial shipping. The group’s aim is to ‘…conserve and protect coastal and marine ecosystems through minimising harm resulting from the procurement and delivery of healthcare whilst increasing awareness of the benefits to human health and wellbeing from healthy seas, coasts, and waterways.’ The group may be in its infancy but the motivation and drive are strong. Opening up conversations such as these, acknowledging that healthcare delivery will impact on the marine environment, is a pivotal step in nurturing enthusiasm and growing ideas for what collaboration across professions and businesses, both public and private can bring.
Researching the available literature on what the medical profession are doing about climate change yields myriad results. The medical journal, The Lancet, has a dedicated sister journal, The Lancet Planetary Health. This is an open access journal, publishing a diverse range of papers concerning the impacts of climate change on human health and welfare. In October 2022, the British Medical Journal published an article ‘Towards Net Zero Healthcare,’ (BMJ 2022), outlining the use of sustainable healthcare principles and illustrating with case study examples. The authors of this article are involved with the Centre for Sustainable Healthcare, which has a clear focus on integrating sustainability within healthcare practice. Further investigation of this site reveals, amongst many other in depth resources and ideas, that of ‘NHS Forest,’, a group dedicated to transforming healthcare sites to become greener –an initiative which we are seeing veterinary practices across the UK take up, as outdoor spaces get given a green makeover.
Returning to the concern that the threat of climate disaster risks overwhelming individuals, readers may be interested to know that The British Psychological Society incorporate a specialist group on the climate and ecological emergency. These psychologists are united in their belief that, ‘as respected health professionals, who have expertise in human change, we can add our voices and influence to show how climate and environmental actions are consistent with our responsibility to promote health, wellbeing, inclusivity and diversity’ (BPS 2020-22). Their list of what practitioner psychologists may be able to do about the climate and environmental crisis is both humbling and inspiring and includes such simple messages as ‘be curious, be kind, evaluate, audit, research.’ Individuals are presenting to psychologists with fears over what climate change may bring, but these fears are being gently combatted with support, knowledge and actions for change.
This is but a snapshot of what other professions are doing and there is a wealth of information available to the interested reader. As BEVA members, we are united in our aim to protect the health and welfare of our equine patients. By engaging with those who support the health and welfare of humans, we stand to learn more about how we can all work together to provide a healthy planet for all life forms to enjoy. As the UN Climate Change Executive Secretary has said in his opening address at COP27 today, “no one can be a mere passenger on this journey” (United Nations Climate Change 2022). The theme of COP 27 appears to be ‘implementation’. Throughout our BEVA networks, our wider veterinary networks and through listening to what the other professions are doing, we stand a greater chance of being able to be more than mere passengers and implement meaningful change, together.
References
BMJ (2022). Towards net zero healthcare BMJ 379:e066699 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj-2021-066699 (Published 11 October 2022)
British Psychological Society (2020-22). Climate Change. Available at: https://www.bps.org.uk/member-networks/division-clinical-psychology/climate-change (accessed online 07.11.22)
United Nations Climate Change (2022). COP27 Opening Remarks by the UN Climate Executive Secretary. Available at https://unfccc.int/news/cop27-opening-remarks-by-the-un-climate-change-executive-secretary (accessed online 07.11.2022).