WHAT IS THE CLIMATE AND HEALTH SCORECARD INITIATIVE?
The scorecard initiative was set up in response to the climate and ecological emergency; the most significant health threat of our time. The climate crisis affects health in a myriad of ways, disproportionately impacting vulnerable communities who have done the least to cause it. Tackling the climate crisis requires health systems to acknowledge and address the drivers of planetary destruction, including neo-colonialism, an extractive economy in pursuit of limitless growth, and militarism. The health sector has a crucial role to play in changing the climate trajectory. We must work collectively to make it happen.
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This initiative focuses on bringing about justice-driven change within health organisations, focusing primarily on professional bodies. In 2019, we began writing a checklist of achievable climate actions that we wished health organisations would take. We involved a range of experts from environmental finance consultants, to climate educators at the Centre for Sustainable Healthcare, to Medact climate campaigners. Together we developed the scorecard which breaks down climate action into manageable steps.
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OUR GOALS
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Support health organisations in moving towards a just, healthy and sustainable world at the rate and speed required to ensure a liveable planet for all.
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Enable health professionals to know what climate action has been taken by their membership organisation
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OUR STRATEGY
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A framework of achievable yet ambitious actions is used to score organisations across four domains.
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Cross-organisational learning is facilitated by sharing examples of good practice.
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Progress is monitored by repeating the scorecard biennially.
METHODOLOGY
1. CONSTRUCTING THE QUESTIONNAIRE
A working group of experts in the field of climate, nature and health developed a framework of climate actions that were considered ambitious yet achievable for health organisations. Four core domains were identified: internal operations; finance; education and training; and advocacy. Questions were written to cover the highest impact areas. We involved a range of experts to maximise the content validity.
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Weighting was determined according to the estimated impact of each question on mitigating the climate and ecological emergency. Questions considered to have the greatest impact have the most points attached. There is no gold standard way to do this, so we consulted many resources and external experts in order to identify the key areas and weight them accordingly. The scores were refined through an iterative process.
2. ORGANISATIONS ARE INVITED TO PARTICIPATE
We invite UK-based health professional bodies (medical, nursing, allied health, pharmacy and psychology).
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3. QUESTIONNAIRES ARE REVIEWED AND SCORED
Health organisations complete the questionnaire. The questionnaire is self-reported and includes suggestions of evidence which helps verify the answers. The questionnaire is then marked by the scorecard team. During the marking process, organisations may be contacted to seek clarification on some answers. Finalised scores are shared with the organisation.
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4. FINDINGS ARE SHARED
We group organisations into categories according to size and nature, and present their scores for each domain, ranking them by their total score. We also publish individual reports for each organisation, outlining actions taken and next steps.
OUR TEAM
CORE TEAM
The initiative is led by Eleanor Cooke and Amelia Cussans and supported by
Will Nash. We are NHS doctors and researchers in the field of climate and health.
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WIDER TEAM
We are immensely grateful to everyone who has given their time to link between the scorecard initiative and their health organisation:
Alan Barnes, Heather Baid, Laura Burton, Isobel Braithwaite, Cara Campbell, Charlotte Cheeseman, Matthew Clarke, Rosemary Lugg, Jenny Girdler, Anya Gopfert, Sivan Greene, Natasha Guildford, Hilde Gundersen, Sara Harford, Alice Harpur, Karen Herndon, Jo Hindley, Charlotte Hurry, Kamilla Kingsley, Gareth Morgan, Will Nash, Jack Oliver-Blaney, Thomas Payne, Alexander Robertson, Andrew Savill, Aimee Serisier, Sarah Sheard, Natalie Smith, Timothy Spruell, Will Stableforth, Victoria Stanford, Andrew Stevenson, Olivia Stevenson, Mike Tomson, Louise Weissel.
We also thank the following people, whose skills and expertise has been instrumental in the development of the initiative:
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Rob Abrams, Nick Bailey, Matt Beresford, Yaso Browne, Chester Cornford, Alice Clack, Ben Eder, Nuala Hampson, Richard Hixson, Terry Kemple, Tracy Lyons, Joel Moreland, Frances Mortimer, Elaine Mulcahy, Elizabeth Robertson, Richard Smith.
