ISN Webinar: Green Nephrology: minimizing the environmental impact of kidney health care

Healthcare contributes substantially to environmental pollution, and nephrology practices, including dialysis and transplantation, have a notable ecological footprint. This session examines strategies to minimize this impact, focusing on optimizing water and energy use, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and managing biomedical waste responsibly. Emphasis will be placed on integrating eco-friendly technologies, rethinking supply chain sustainability, and balancing resource efficiency with high-quality patient care, underscoring the importance of environmental stewardship in kidney healthcare. 

Learning objectives:

- Analyze the ecological footprint of dialysis, transplantation, and other kidney care procedures, including resource use and waste generation
- Identify methods to reduce water and energy consumption, improve waste management, and implement eco-friendly technologies in nephrology- 
Develop actionable approaches to balance patient care quality with environmental responsibility, fostering long-term sustainability in kidney health services

Further reading:

• GREEN-K – Global Environmental Evolution in Nephrology and Kidney Care
• Our shared responsibility: the urgent necessity of global environmentally sustainable kidney care
• Green nephrology – Katherine A. Barraclough & John W. M. Agar. Nature Reviews Nephrology volume 16, pages 257–268 (2020)