Striving for net-zero emissions in 2050, the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Ministry of Environment jointly established the "Medical Sustainability Co-creation Alliance"

Shi Chongliang said that my country's medical industry must adopt a "dual-axis transformation", namely "digital transformation" and "green transformation."

President Lai Ching-te has proposed the vision of "2050 Net Zero Emissions". In response to climate change and the health care needs of an aging society, the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Ministry of Environment announced today the joint establishment of the "Medical Sustainability Co-Creation Alliance". In the future, it will serve as a regular platform for exchanges and cooperation and a sustainable development network for medical institutions at different levels to learn together, spread experience and jointly promote.

Minister of Health and Welfare Shi Chongliang said that the National Climate Change Countermeasures Committee of the Presidential Office is led by the Ministry of Environment, but the Ministry of Health and Welfare also plays a role in it. In particular, the medical industry will never be absent in the process of sustainable development. The committee has also set the tone for my country's medical care to adopt a "double-axis transformation", that is, "digital transformation" and "green transformation."

Shi Chongliang said that starting from 2024, it will guide about 100 medical institutions to conduct greenhouse gas inventories, 50 hospitals to promote energy-saving management, and subsidize 32 hospitals to invest in green medical care and sustainable talent cultivation, assisting medical institutions to establish a sustainable governance foundation. Today, more than 200 medical institutions, county and city health bureaus, hospital-related workers' associations, etc. are called to jointly establish the "Medical Sustainability Co-Creation Alliance."

Regarding the goal of establishing the alliance, Shi Chongliang said that the Medical Sustainability Co-Creation Alliance will serve as a regular platform for communication and cooperation, and strive to achieve the net zero goal by 2050 through benchmark learning, mutual experience sharing, and cross-field and cross-department cooperation mechanisms.

In addition, the Alliance also released the "Blueprint for Sustainable Development of Taiwan's Medical Institutions" today, focusing on sustainable governance and climate resilience, carbon management, energy and water resources management, low-carbon medical care, green supply chain and resource recycling, and talent cultivation, so that medical institutions of all sizes can find suitable practices based on their own conditions and needs, promote them in stages, and implement them gradually.

Environment Minister Peng Qiming said that medical waste treatment is very expensive and energy-consuming. In the future, he hopes to assist hospitals from the perspective of circular economy and reduce related processing costs. Past statistics have found that hospital air conditioning is also a major cause of energy consumption in medical institutions. In the past, six medical institutions were provided with subsidies through the "Cooling Action Innovation Demonstration Subsidy Program".