Dr Les Strezov : Change Starts With You

We interviewed Dr Les Strezov, Founder and Chief Scientist of Carbon LCA Certified and asked him questions about the climate crisis and what we can do to make a change. Here is what he had to say.

What inspires your work?

Climate change is the most pressing and challenging issue that we are facing today. The time window for corrective action is quickly narrowing. We are virtually at five minutes to midnight. The actions that we take now will define the quality of life on this planet for millennia to come.

Now is the time for people to use their relevant skills to combat the climate crisis. For me, coming from a scientific/technical background, it was an obvious choice to make and a simple decision to join the fight. It is on our generation to deal with this man-made crisis now.

What changes do you wish to see globally and locally in order to create a more sustainable future?

Globally, as a society we need to move much quicker in order to make the necessary changes that facilitate real action. Early action is key. For this to be successful there is a need for strong leadership to coordinate efforts on a worldwide basis and move away from an individual country approach, as this is a global problem. In this respect the developed world needs to take serious action first.

On a local level, we would wish to see corporations and big business fully understand the environmental impacts of their products and services and take responsibility for the externalities (actual environmental cost being borne by the public.) A greater shift also needs to occur, where medium and small businesses respond to the same challenge by having clear environmental strategies, plans and actions to reach net zero carbon.

I would wish to see consumers being given the opportunity to make product selections based also on environmental impacts, and will influence business behaviour and promote greener products and services. This would need to be encouraged and supported by Governments to ensure that this is done in a transparent and internationally standardised way. This will help eliminate ‘greenwashing’ which is currently undermining consumer confidence.

What are some practical initiatives healthcare workers could implement to facilitate positive environmental change?

Globally, the health care sector accounts for around 2 Gt of CO2e emissions, or 4.4% of World Greenhouse Gas Emissions (GGE). This is equivalent to the fifth largest emitting country on the planet.

In Australia, GGE attributed to health care were found to be 7% of the total, with hospitals and the pharmaceutical industry responsible for two thirds. Around 90% of the health care sector GGE are Scope 3 emissions derived from the supply chain, or close to 30 Mt in the year ending June 2023. The supply chain comprises of goods and services delivered to the health care system from hundreds of various suppliers that individually may have modest emissions.

Significant opportunities exist to improve GGE performance of the supply chain by encouraging suppliers to develop their own GGE reduction strategies. These may vary across the supply chain in the specifics, and in the timing of the goals, targets, and actions.

As the end users of the majority of products and services, nurses need to be able to influence and encourage the organisation to purchase and to promote lower carbon products and services, for example by incorporating this criterion in the supplier selection. This will encourage suppliers to improve their environmental performance, reducing Scope 3 emissions for the health care sector.

A good example of a small supplier to the health care system that has developed strategies to reduce their products carbon emissions and is well on the way to becoming carbon neutral is DrugWaste International. DrugWaste International is a supplier of specially designed containers for safe disposal of medical drugs. Completing a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of their products provided understanding of the quantity and origin and distribution of all “cradle to grave” GGE. This provided the basis for the development of GGE reduction strategies, targets and actions that will guide their transition to net zero carbon within 2 to 3 years.

It is vital that health care workers advocate for measuring carbon emissions of the organisation in order to create a benchmark from which strategies and actions for improvement can be developed and monitored.

What is your best piece of advice for someone starting out in the process of sustainable change?

In order for sustainable change to occur, individuals need to become aware of the impact of their activities on the environment. As a consumer, you have the power to make choices which include making sure that environmental performance is the basis of your selection of products and services. This applies to individual, organisational and communities.

Make changes and do it now, no matter how small, and encourage those around you at all levels of the organisation to do the same. Real change cannot be implemented without collective action.