Library resource guides: Environmental sustainability resources: Overview

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Spotlight

HVAC - The sustainability issue hidden in plain sight
The Environmental-Sustainability Network (ESN) invite Dr Marion Kainer, Dr Brooke Rule, A/Prof Forbes McGain, Dr Wagih Abu Rowin to showcase their research on the management and implications of Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems - followed by a panel discussion including Dr James Anderson.

The presentation focus areas:
- HVAC and Sustainability in Hospitals: Insights from the University of Melbourne Research Team
- HVAC in the Operating Room Suite
- FSFHG HVAC Setback Program – An Experience
- HVAC = Big Time Gas Exchange for Anaesthetists

Panel members:
- Dr Wagih Abu Rowin
- Dr Marion Kainer
- Dr Brooke Rule
- A/Prof Forbes McGain
- Dr Rebecca McIntyre
- Dr James Anderson
- Dr Emily Balmaks

You can read more on ANZCA's commitment to environmental sustainability on our website: https://www.anzca.edu.au/about-us/our-culture/environmental-sustainability

ANZCA’s statement on desflurane

ANZCA’s statement on desflurane supports the continued education and actions to reduce desflurane usage. It is a consensus statement that seeks to balance the current evidence and perspectives on administration of the greenhouse gas desflurane as an anaesthetic agent and to reinforce our ability as clinicians to exert positive change and mitigate environmental impact.

ANZCA's statement on desflurane
The statement seeks to balance the current evidence and perspectives on administration of the greenhouse gas desflurane as an anaesthetic agent and to reinforce anaesthetists’ ability as clinicians to exert positive change and mitigate environmental impact.

Detecting and Reducing Nitrous Oxide Leaks in Healthcare Facilities: A Practical Guide by Australian Centre for Disease Control
ISBN: 9781741864625

Publication Date: 2024-08-19
Green Physician Toolkit by Royal College of Physicians (RCP)
Publication Date: July 2024

Street A, Lie AK, Strasser BJ, Greene JA. Plastics in health care: rethinking medical device innovation, use, and disposal for sustainability. Lancet. 2025;406(10505):791-792.
Street A, Kersaudy-Kerhoas M. Can plastic waste from point-of-care diagnostics be reduced?. Lancet. Epub June 27, 2025.
Klamert L, Brockett C, Craike M, Shrestha N, Parker AG. The imperative of planetary mental health: insights, recommendations, and a call to action. Glob Public Health. 2025;20(1):2541220.
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Abstract
An alarming progression of human-centred and environmental concerns has marked the Anthropocene, including climatic changes and the inextricably linked deterioration of human mental health. Expanding on the 2015 Rockefeller Foundation-Lancet Commission on Planetary Health, we propose that mental health be explicitly included within the planetary health approach. This inclusion acknowledges the importance of population mental health as part of planetary health and addresses the symbiotic deterioration of global mental health and environmental health. As part of this approach, we conceptualise several types of interventions, including symbiocentric and transformative mental health interventions, with the latter combining active environmentalism with the aim of simultaneously improving mental health and wellbeing. We further identify several areas of opportunity in which transformative interventions could be translated to practice and implemented across a range of settings, including workplaces, educational contexts, and organised sport. Making a call to action, we highlight the urgency of shifting from individualised to collective environmental responsibility, including collective transformative reflection, with different stakeholders coming together to scale up transformative interventions and working towards true planetary (mental) health. Finally, we give recommendations to promote symbiocentric and transformative interventions in policy and reform.

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Environment & sustainability research grant

The Environment and Sustainability Research Grant supports research activity towards: 1) evaluating the environmental impact of current anaesthesia, pain medicine and perioperative practice; 2) evaluating the impact of implementing environmentally sustainable solutions; and 3) establishing effective implementation models to promote sustainability.

See the ANZCA grants page for more information

Key documents

Environmental Sustainability Audit Tool

Environmental Sustainability Network (ESN)

The ANZCA ESN is a community of practice dedicated to reducing the impacts of climate change in healthcare. Find out more on the environmental sustainability page on the college website.

Join the ANZCA ESN

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