Recognizing impact: National University Hospital

Starting the certification journey

NUH embarked on its sustainability journey in 2022, progressively building a portfolio of initiatives informed by international healthcare organizations that had earlier started integrating sustainability into clinical and operational practice. As these efforts expanded and matured, we recognized the value of measuring ourselves against a recognized global standard and sought an independent assessment of our progress.

Pursing external validation also reinforced accountability, and helped demonstrate to staff, partners, and the broader healthcare community that NUH's sustainability commitments were meaningful, substantive, and credible. It strengthened stakeholder confidence and created additional momentum for organization-wide engagement in sustainability initiatives.

Shaping the certification journey

NUH’s approach to sustainability was shaped by national priorities and organizational ambition. As part of the National University Health System (NUHS), the hospital aligned its sustainability efforts with Singapore's GreenGov.SG framework, the government's roadmap for public sector sustainability and net-zero transition.

At the same time, NUH sought to address environmental challenges that are particularly relevant to healthcare, including carbon-intensive clinical practices, energy consumption, waste generation, and the use of high-emission medical gases.

Importantly, NUH's efforts have contributed to national policy development: for example, evidence from NUH's nitrous oxide reduction programme was shared with the Ministry of Health's Healthcare Facilities Design Standards, which now exclude nitrous oxide pipeline systems from new hospital developments. This demonstrates how local innovation and evidence-based practice can help shape broader healthcare sustainability policies.

Building organizational capability

One of the primary challenges was securing buy-in from operational and clinical leaders, particularly when the immediate, tangible benefits of sustainability initiatives were not always obvious.

This was addressed through targeted engagement and education sessions with department heads and operational teams, to help them understand healthcare's significant environmental footprint, and the important role healthcare institutions play in addressing climate change. Critically, sustainability was reframed not as an additional responsibility but as a performance and value driver.

Another challenge was data availability, particularly for Scope 3 emissions, which involve complex value-chain activities beyond the hospital’s direct control. Like many healthcare organizations, we also faced resource constraints and competing operational priorities. Our approach was pragmatic: we started with data that was readily available, used reasonable proxies where needed, and focused on building more robust measurement systems over time.

The impact of certification

The certification journey has both validated and accelerated NUH's sustainability transformation across clinical care, operations, and governance. While many initiatives were already underway, the process provided a structured framework that strengthened implementation, measurement, and organizational alignment.

• Decarbonization of clinical care
• Waste, circularity, and resource efficiency
• Clinical appropriateness and resource use
• Governance and organizational alignment
• Supply chain and procurement

These efforts are helping to reduce environmental impacts across the value chain while maintaining the quality, safety, and reliability of healthcare services.