Towards Net Zero Award

HSJ Awards 2024 - Towards Net Zero Award
Towards Net Zero Award
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How to apply

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Submit your entry to be in the running.
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For any questions, please contact Frank Willing  

 

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Climate change and our impact on public health and the environment is recognised as one of the key global challenges of the 21st century. The health sector has a vested interest in improving public health through addressing the causes of air pollution and climate change.

The NHS long-term plan includes commitments to becoming a ‘greener’ NHS through halving carbon emissions by 2025 (vs 2007 levels), cutting fleet air pollutants by 20%, and reducing single use plastics across the NHS supply chain. Making these ambitions a reality will affect decision making across all areas of the healthcare system and require environmental impact assessment to become a key driver of innovative service delivery.

This award will recognise those organisations redesigning working practices to deliver greener and more efficient services, and who are actively adopting new innovations to reduce waste, water, energy consumption, carbon and single-use plastics.

Eligibility

This award is open to all NHS organisations within the UK.

Ambition

  • What have been the biggest environmental challenges facing your organisation or system in recent years?
  • Describe the vision for sustainable development across all areas of the organisation
  • How does that vision translate into specific green initiatives aimed at reducing water, carbon, energy consumption, single-use plastics or other waste?
  • What targets were set for these initiatives and how were they measured?

Outcome

  • How is the vision being achieved?
  • Describe the performance of green initiatives against targets, and include supporting evidence to display improvements over time
  • Provide specific examples of how individual projects feed into the wider vision for sustainable development, and how they will achieve lasting impact
  • Evidence how sustainability principles been embedded within the organisation’s processes and policies

Spread

  • Evidence how sustainable development is becoming business as usual across the organisation
  • Show how initial successes of the specific initiatives mentioned earlier can be replicated and scaled up in the future
  • Describe any work undertaken to spread best practice learning with other healthcare organisations or the general public

Value

  • Describe the overall environmental impact achieved so far
  • Discuss how the initiatives and activities enable compliance with the Climate Change Act, Environmental Protection Act and/or other key legislation
  • Evidence efficiency gains, both in terms of waste reduction and cost savings

Involvement

  • Show how the organisation has engaged staff across multiple functions and departments to challenge ‘business as usual’ thinking and deliver the vision
  • Evidence how patients, service users or the wider community have been involved in the design and implementation of green initiatives
  • Describe any partnership or collaborative working either with a supplier or other entity

Towards Net Zero Award

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To find out more

Entries, attendance and sponsorship enquiries, contact awardssupport@hsj.co.uk 
Media and marketing enquiries, contact Honey de Gracia 0207 608 9002;
Judging and event management, contact Sheena Patel 0207 608 9039