Sustainability Must Become a Healthcare Priority in Kenya

The healthcare sector is a significant contributor to global emissions, responsible for around five percent of global emissions, making it the sixth largest emitter if it were a country. In Kenya, the growing integration of sustainability into boardroom discussions and business strategy is a welcome development, reflecting its recognised contribution to financial performance, quality of care, and operational resilience. This shift is crucial as climate change is already harming people, and the risks are intensifying.

Climate change is causing extreme heat, floods, and drought, which can damage health facilities and interrupt access to treatment, creating a double burden. For healthcare providers, sustainability can no longer be a distant ambition. Investing in cleaner energy, conserving water, and reducing resource wastage must be part of a broader effort to cut emissions, strengthen resilience, and protect the continued delivery of care. The cost of inaction is measured not only in environmental damage but in lives and livelihoods.

A practical starting point for healthcare providers is to examine everyday decisions that determine a hospital's environmental footprint, such as how it generates heat, sources and uses electricity, conserves water, handles waste, and manages clinical supplies. These practices may attract less attention than new medical equipment, but they deserve serious consideration in how healthcare institutions plan and invest. For example, hospital heating can be rethought to reduce reliance on diesel, which comes with a fuel bill, environmental cost, and dependency on volatile supply chains.

Electricity presents another opportunity for healthcare providers to reduce their environmental impact. Suitable hospital roof space could become an energy-producing asset for solar power, which could meet part of a hospital's daytime demand. This way, hospitals can begin reducing their reliance on purchased electricity without waiting for a solution that meets every need. According to Rashid Khalani, CEO of Aga Khan University Hospital, Nairobi, the assessment should extend beyond the purchase price to the savings an investment can generate over time while helping conserve the environment.

Meaningful progress does not always require major new installations. Everyday improvements can offer lower-cost opportunities to reduce resource use. Better waste segregation, for example, can reduce the volume unnecessarily sent for costly incineration, while careful management of anaesthetic and refrigerant gases can help limit avoidable emissions. Energy efficiency offers further opportunities, and energy audits can identify where electricity is being wasted and help prioritise improvements.

Sustainability is a hospital-wide responsibility, requiring a team effort from clinical teams, finance, procurement, and housekeeping. Clinical practice also deserves attention, as reviewing how nitrous oxide was managed at Aga Khan University Hospital revealed opportunities to reduce wastage and unnecessary releases. Through improved controls around its storage, delivery, and use across clinical services, the hospital reported a nearly two-thirds reduction in nitrous oxide emissions since implementation of the comprehensive practice changes.

The Aga Khan Development Network has committed to net-zero emissions in operations, covering direct operational emissions and emissions from purchased energy, alongside a separate drive to reduce supply-chain emissions. The World Health Organization emphasises that measuring emissions enables institutions to identify their largest sources, set meaningful targets, and track progress. Hospitals should apply the same discipline to sustainability that they apply to other aspects of performance, establishing a baseline, assigning responsibility, budgeting for action, and reporting results.

Key points

• Healthcare sector is responsible for around five percent of global emissions.
• Sustainability can no longer be a distant ambition for healthcare providers.
• Measuring emissions enables institutions to identify their largest sources, set meaningful targets, and track progress.