Environmental Programme of the National University Hospital of Iceland
The hospital’s Environmental Programme describes the most urgent projects that will be worked on in the coming years and which take the UN Sustainable Development Goals into consideration.
SDGs related to the project
Project description
The National University Hospital’s Environmental Programme is based on a future vision where it serves as a role model in environmental matters and is guided by social responsibility in making decisions and in its daily work. It is to promote a health-improving environment, better resource utilisation and reduction of wastage, and positive climate action for a better future. The Programme involves follow-up, work on well defined key projects and green accounting is carried out on key figures related to the projects. Information is published annually. The projects are varied; some big and some small, utilising technical solutions as well as employee mobilisation. The hospital places emphasis on international co-operation, working with other hospitals on solutions and sharing experiences to accelerate progress towards the goals.
Objectives of the project
Over 30 projects are included under the nine overarching goals, involving defined procedures for disposal of dangerous waste, responsible handling of pharmaceuticals, green construction, sorting of waste, eco-friendly purchasing, energy consumption, sharing of information, eco-friendly means of transport and anaesthetic gases.
When is the target expected to be achieved?
There are more than 30 projects in the programme, each with its own target. Some of the projects cover a longer period of time.
Measurement of performance
Data is gathered from the hospital's green accounts each year and the results are published on an external website.
Project progress
10 January 2023
The new climate goals and Environmental Programme are in the final stages of preparation and will be valid until 2023.
1 February 2021
At the end of 2020, the status of the 38 projects of Landspítali’s Environmental Programme was as follows: 23 have been completed, 10 are in progress and 5 have not begun. Excellent results have been achieved by the projects, as preliminary figures show that a 40% reduction was achieved in the hospital’s carbon footprint by the end of 2020, or about 1900 tonnes of CO2, equivalent to the annual average emissions of about 800 cars. It is thanks to the implementation of these projects that this objective was achieved. In acknowledgement of this, the hospital received the 2020 Climate Recognition of the City of Reykjavík and the CSR advocacy group Festa, and the Climate Challenge Award from Health Care Without Harm. Many of the projects will continue, for example, education work is never finished, nor is eco-friendly purchasing. In continuation, new goals will be set in a new programme in 2021.
Project status
