The Net Zero Healthcare Impact Team
Our team is ready to drive
the agenda forward and
lead healthcare into
the 21st century
in terms of sustainability
Founders
Dr Brecht De Tavernier
Dr Brecht De Tavernier is an emergency physician and the head of two emergency departments of ZAS Hospitals in Antwerp, Belgium.
He holds several master's degrees across medicine, economics and management, including an executive MBA.
brecht.detavernier@nzhi.eu
Brecht on LinkedIn
Joris Baeten
Joris Baeten is an entrepreneur, driven by sustainability and an expert in communication and organisation. He runs the company on day-to-day basis.
Joris has a science background and worked previously as a communication officer at the University of Antwerp, Belgium.
Advisory board
Annelies Casteleyn
Annelies is sustainability officer within the ‘Quality, Sustainability, Innovation & Lean’ team of hospital group ZAS in Antwerp, Belgium.
Inge Geerdens
Inge is a belgian captain of industry. She founded CVWarehouse.com, The Foundershub and Your Next Move, to name only a few.
Evelien Kieckens
Evelien is biosafety and sustainability coordinator at Ghent University Hospital, Belgium. She holds a PhD in immunology.
Are you wondering why we founded our company? Well...
... let's face it: it's urgent.
Currently, our planet earth is 1,5°C warmer than before the industrial age and the speed of warming is increasing. Yes it is.
2024 was the warmest year globally in more than 100 000 years.
We have already observed an 85% increase in heath-related deaths among people over 65 in the last 20 years. Also, infants under 1 year of age are sensitive to heat-wave related mortality.
Food insecurity has quadrupled in the last decade due to climate change.
The area of spread of the tiger mosquito, Vibrio bacteria in water, malaria and West Nile virus is expanding, and climate change will also dramatically impact the epidemiology of vector borne diseases.
The wrong direction
At COP21 in Paris in 2015, 196 world leaders agreed to hold “the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels” and pursue efforts “to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.”
To limit global warming to 1.5°C, greenhouse gas emissions must peak by 2025 at the latest and decline 43% by 2030.
Unfortunately, the world is still moving in the wrong direction.
Energy related greenhouse gas emissions are still rising and 80% of global energy is still produced from fossil fuels. Only 4% of capital expenditure projects of the leading 20 utilities companies was spent on renewable energy projects.
But on the other hand, the world is investing massively in renewable energy. In 2022, 1,6 trillion $ was invested in renewable energy, outperforming fossil fuel investments by 60%, and this amount of investment in renewables is increasing by 15% a year.
Besides climate change, the loss of biodiversity is also a very pressing problem that we urgently need to stop. Therefore, we also focus on avoiding waste and reducing the environmental toxicity of medicines.
Win-win-win
It is beyond any doubt that healthcare can, should and will contribute to reversing this trend. But on the other hand, as practitioners and leaders in healthcare ourselves, we are very aware of the cost constraints and the small operating margins in the sector. Therefore, we combine an ecological with an economic focus.
We compare supply costs of single use goods and medicines, we evaluate alternative suppliers and look at the economic potential of circular solutions. We look at alternatives throughout the entire healthcare value chain. We believe a firm economic and, in particular, health economics focus is a second very important pillar for achieving high value healthcare in the current budgetary situation.
Finally, we recognise that human resources are a key challenge for any healthcare system. Attracting sufficient and motivated nurses, doctors and support staff is the biggest challenge we face in our sector. Many studies show the importance the vast majority of young graduates attach to the sustainability profile and practices of potential employers. More than 70 to even 90% of graduates want to work for companies and organisations that make a positive environmental impact.
In summary, we assist hospitals and medical departments look for ecological, economic and human resources gains. We have been surprised ourselves by the tremendous amount of situations where this win-win-win is within reach with our tool.
