The carbon footprint of critical care: a systematic review

The provision of healthcare is a substantial global contributor to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Several medical specialties and national health systems have begun evaluating their carbon emission contributions. The aim of this review is to summarise and describe the carbon footprint resulting from the provision of adult, paediatric and neonatal critical care.

A systematic search of Embase, Cochrane and Web of Science was performed in January 2023. Studies reporting any assessment of the carbon footprint of critical care were included. No language restrictions were applied. GHG emissions from life cycle assessments (LCA) were reported, in addition to waste, electricity and water use. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) guideline was followed.

In total, 13 studies assessing and describing the environmental impact of 36 adult or paediatric intensive care units (ICUs) were included. Two studies described full LCAs, seven reported waste only, two provided audits of unused medical supplies, one reported electricity use, and one study described a Material Flow Analysis. The estimated carbon emissions from critical care range between 88 kg CO₂e/patient/day and 178 kg CO₂e/patient/day. The two predominant sources of carbon emissions in critical care originate from electricity and gas use, as well as consumables. Waste production ranged from 1.1 to 13.7 kg/patient/day in the 6 studies where mean waste could be calculated.

There is a significant carbon footprint that results from intensive care provision. Consumables and waste constitute important, measurable, and modifiable components of anthropogenic emissions. There remains uncertainty due to a lack of literature, several unstudied areas of carbon emissions from critical care units, and within measured areas, measurement and reporting of carbon emissions are inconsistent.