Sustainability & Planetary Health

Planetary health focuses on the human health impacts of global environmental change. 

The College is engaging and advocating for sustainability and planetary health in Irish general practice and has lobbied for planetary health action. 

The College Sustainability Working Group is proud to present the Glas Toolkit (Glas means Green in the Irish language) which presents possible solutions to reducing the carbon footprint of general practice.

From simple and complex changes to clinical decision making, the timing of actions on clinical interventions and referrals for tests or procedures. It includes ideas and templates for clinical audits and quality improvement projects. The Toolkit includes guidance on rational prescribing and disposal of inhalers, antibiotics and medication reviews, and social prescribing. 

The Climate and Health Alliance, a diverse coalition of public health NGOs, professional bodies, and academic institutions, including the Irish College of GPs, advocates for urgent government action to mitigate climate change and its detrimental effects on public health.

The programme presents a series of proposals designed to enhance public health and environmental sustainability within Ireland.