How can a radiation oncology society support its members and the community to help reduce the carbon footprint of radiation oncology?

Background

Climate change is an escalating crisis with significant implications for public health and healthcare services. We aimed to survey radiation oncology (RO) professionals on their understanding and concerns about climate change and the role of ESTRO in addressing the crisis.

Materials and Methods

A 14-item survey covering environmental impact of RO activities, personal actions, and expectations of ESTRO’s responses to the climate crisis was developed, validated, and disseminated to RO professionals by email and online platforms.

Results

706 responses were received out of 9,781 ESTRO members. Concern about climate change was indicated by 90% of respondents and 94% had changed their personal lives to help combat the climate crisis. Yet 50% of respondents could not identify RO’s main contributors to climate change. 39% reported positive attitudes to online conferences and 79% agreed that ESTRO should offer digital participation to reduce the carbon impact of travel. Reported barriers to digital participation were mainly related to lack of face-to-face interaction.

Although additional time was the most common barrier to reducing flying for work-related trips, 47 % of respondents were willing to travel by train for ≥ 7 h to an ESTRO conference. The majority of respondents (82 %) agreed that ESTRO should ‘Increase engagement with manufacturers around environmental sustainability’.

Conclusion

Our results reveal strong concern about the climate crisis among RO professionals, willingness to implement change, lack of knowledge about climate impact of RO and support for ESTRO actions to support its members and the community in these efforts.