Integrating Environmental Responsibility in Healthcare Operations: A Decarbonization Pathway for the Indian Healthcare Sector

Abstract

The healthcare sector, committed to enhancing public health, paradoxically significantly contributes to environmental degradation through elevated energy consumption, extensive supply chains, and waste production. Healthcare operations worldwide contribute 4–5% of greenhouse gas emissions, positioning them as a primary focus for climate change mitigation efforts. India's rapidly expanding healthcare infrastructure and increasing patient demand present the dual challenge of providing quality care while minimising its carbon footprint. Decarbonising healthcare necessitates a fundamental transition from sporadic sustainability efforts to incorporating Green Healthcare Initiatives (GHI) within routine operations. These initiatives encompass renewable energy integration, circular economy waste management, energy-efficient architectural design, sustainable supply chains, and environmentally conscious procurement. Although current literature highlights GHI in developed contexts, a paucity of conceptual work explicitly connects them to Decarbonising Development in India's healthcare sector. This conceptual paper bridges the gap by synthesising literature and extracting insights from administrative leaders of private hospitals in Eastern India's Tier I and II cities. Despite being geographically concentrated in Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Ranchi, Kolkata, Rourkela, and Raipur, these findings are deemed nationally representative, encapsulating the varied operational, cultural, and regulatory dynamics of India's private healthcare system.