Climate Change, Sustainability, and Nephrology

*please note: this article is behind a paywall* 

Abstract

The current global ecological crisis threatens to irreversibly alter the conditions under which human civilization has evolved. Within the decade, the whole world – including healthcare – must change course toward sustainability.

In this chapter, we highlight the need for environmental measures to be embedded in the management and procurement of kidney services and outline a range of practical modifications already identified, which improve the environmental efficiency of dialysis. Finally, we describe how the principles of sustainable healthcare can be used to inform more fundamental changes to the design and delivery of care, improving health outcomes while radically reducing the resource inputs needed.