Estimating the Carbon Footprint of Healthcare in the Canton of Geneva and Reduction Scenarios for 2030 and 2040.

Switzerland, a wealthy country, has a cutting-edge healthcare system, yet per capita, it emits over one ton of CO, ranking among the world's most polluting healthcare systems. To estimate the carbon footprint of the healthcare system of Geneva's canton, we collected raw data on the activities of its stakeholders. Our analysis shows that when excluding medicines and medical devices, hospitals are the main greenhouse gas emitter by far, accounting for 48% of the healthcare system's emission, followed by nursing homes (20%), private practice (18%), medical analysis laboratories (7%), dispensing pharmacies (4%), the homecare institution (3%), and the ambulance services (<1%).