'Green hospital' concept offers sustainable healthcare prospect
Source: Chronicle News Service / Nongmaithem Debarani Devi

Imphal, July 07 2025: As climate change intensifies, its impacts on public health in India are becoming increasingly evident with rising temperatures, and erratic rainfalls.

Amidst these phenomena, the widespread emergence of diseases are placing additional strain on an already overloaded healthcare system.

Hospitals are one of the many infrastructures that demand many resources, and also generate toxic biomedical waste, while accounting for 4.4 per cent of greenhouse emissions.

As such, the concept for green hospitals has emerged as more of a response.

A green hospital is one concept which seeks for creating climate-resilient, energy-efficient, and environmentally responsible healthcare infrastructure.

Care environments that are cleaner and more resilient, are created as well for improved public health outcomes.

As a result of recognising the dual benefit principle, several institutions in India have started instituting sustainability.

For example, improvements in sustainability installations such as solar energy panels, LED lighting, rainwater harvesting, and waste segregation systems, can be seen with All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Delhi and Kas-turba Hospital Mumbai.

Nationally, certification schemes are coming together to support sustainable green healthcare systems such as Indian Green Building Council (IGBC), and Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment (GRIHA) scheme.

These projects have been developed in the context of national policies, such as National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) and National Health Mission (NHM) that are increasingly supporting climate-resilient healthcare systems.

While many steps are being taken, there still is a long way to go.

Urban private hospitals are advancing faster than those in rural hinterlands and the host of issues faced by hospitals in northeast India.

So far, only some 50 hospitals have been IGBC or GRIHA certified (mostly urban) by 2024 .

Smaller public health facilities also generally lack the infrastructure and resources to implement green practices.

Many lack even the physical space and processes to manage basic waste segregation, with Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) estimating that more than 80 per cent of public health facilities lack an efficient biomedical waste segregation system.

There are initiatives taking place to bridge this gap.

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare is building six AIIMS across India, all of which are registered with GRIHA and are designed with at least a 3-star rating system including passive ventilation systems and water-efficient fixtures among other systems.

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) is helping to establish solar installations at about 25,000 rural health facilities throughout the country, although implementations differ greatly within and between states.

Health systems, especially in Manipur, are usually not able to meet the minimum standards of the health peacefulness, as many face inadequate infrastructure/minimal electrical utilities, low standards of sanitation, and exposure to mismanage and/or disproportionate medical waste.

Manipur's own Climate Action Plan provides a framework for understanding the health industry's vulnerability to climate change, but lack of resilience is its bigger concern.

But there are signs of positive momentum beginning.

At the 1st AH-PICON NE II2025 conference held in Imphal on February 15, stakeholders from the health care system launched the "Green Hospital Initiative" in the region.

On May 5, the draft Climate Finance Taxonomy was published.

The proximity of these events is significant because the Taxonomy aims to channel investments into sustainable sectors across many industries including healthcare.

No hospital in Manipur has been accredited green hospital, but there are pilot projects underway throughout the state.

For instance, in Churachandpur and Ukhrul districts small solar-powered clinics run by NGOs provide low-carbon primary care.

Certain PHCs have implemented rainwater harvesting systems and passive cooling designs.

UNDP is also supporting investment to install climate-resilient retrofitting on a few district hospitals, and assess whether such changes could contribute to climate resilience.

Yet gaps in infrastructure remain pronounced, with almost 35-40 per cent of PHCs and CHCs in hill regions of Manipur struggling with unreliable power supply, water supply issues and only a handful having rainwater harvesting for their water supply needs.

The management of biomedical waste is a concern, with only four out of 16 districts having a proper facility to manage the waste from PHCs and CHCs.

In-spite of the shortfalls, steps are being taken toward sustainable healthcare at the community and national levels.

For the meantime, the Health Mission, under NAP-CC, has been prepared with identified initiatives, such as building climate resilient hospitals, training and educating health workers on impact of climate and climate response, and strategies to develop clean energy plans for health facilities projects.

Many states are beginning to implement new green construction standards for any new PHCs and CHCs.

The Health Ministry has also begun to promote energy audits for hospitals in the future, and encouraging public hospitals to apply for green hospital certification.

Experts have broadly recommended a few strategies to speed up green healthcare projects and methods, particularly because of healthcare deficits in areas like Manipur.

First, national and state health programmes should meet the green standards for all new healthcare infrastructures, especially local hospitals.

Second, training local architects, engineers, and healthcare administrators in sustainable design and environmental management will build capacity for future building and sustainability.

Third, centralised financing can solicit public, private, CSR, and international climate fund (or similar) financing for sustainability initiatives.

Fourth, there is a need for community involvement to ensure local sustainability solutions which are already affordable options for people there.

Lastly, a national commitment to a "green health index" could facilitate evaluations of green projects on the broad scale across the nation, and be used to incentivise new health facilities to comprehend and apply relevant green standards.

Adding green hospitals in India s Climate Finance Taxonomy could help the work by identifying these benefits as climate supporting investments.

This framework will help use some of that available (or requisite CSR) funding towards healthcare facilities that do not just supply necessary healthcare but would provide durable emissions reductions and resilience to climate impacts.

As climate change and public health challenges collide, green hospitals may offer a way forward.

Green hospitals are not only a sustainable type of building that contributes to health systems which are environmentally sustainable and climate resilient, but also represent a significant investment into climate resilient health systems.

In rural regions, they would require investment, policy, and innovation so as to achieve the goals of healthier communities, reduce the burden of disease and foster climate resilient health systems.

(The report is filed under the 5th Media Fellowship Programme on Climate Change Reporting under the sponsorship of Directorate of Environment and Climate Change, Government of Manipur) .

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