Detailed carbon footprint of long-term care in an aging society
As the concept of planetary health garners increased attention, the necessity of quantifying the carbon footprint (CF) of healthcare supply chains has become more pronounced. Although global studies have examined the CF of the healthcare sector, there remains a notable gap in research concerning the...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Environmental Research Letters |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ade72b |
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| author | Narumi Kira Sho Hata Keisuke Nansai Yosuke Shigetomi |
| author_facet | Narumi Kira Sho Hata Keisuke Nansai Yosuke Shigetomi |
| author_sort | Narumi Kira |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | As the concept of planetary health garners increased attention, the necessity of quantifying the carbon footprint (CF) of healthcare supply chains has become more pronounced. Although global studies have examined the CF of the healthcare sector, there remains a notable gap in research concerning the CF of long-term care (LTC) services, which are essential to human health and welfare. We harmonized environmental input–output analysis with data derived from the national representative consumer-expenditure survey and LTC insurance statistics obtained from domestic economic and medical datasets to detail the CF of Japanese households requiring LTC. In Japan, the CF per capita associated with care was boosted as the care level increased. Notably, there is a disparity of up to 14 times between the care level with the lowest CF emissions and that with the highest CF emissions. Furthermore, households with LTC insurance demonstrate higher per-capita CF than those without such insurance, even when other household consumption needs are considered. This trend may mitigate the reduction in total CF related to household consumption, despite a national population decline, due to the anticipated rise in demand for LTC driven by an aging population by the year 2050 which is the target year for achieving carbon neutrality in Japan. Although renewable energy promotion represents an effective supply-side solution, a demand-side approach, such as the prevention of LTC, offers benefits for both climate change mitigation and human health. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-9edeb0de472c49c9b080ffa6e7e4a093 |
| institution | Matheson Library |
| issn | 1748-9326 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Environmental Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj-art-9edeb0de472c49c9b080ffa6e7e4a0932025-07-01T05:39:47ZengIOP PublishingEnvironmental Research Letters1748-93262025-01-0120808401410.1088/1748-9326/ade72bDetailed carbon footprint of long-term care in an aging societyNarumi Kira0https://orcid.org/0009-0009-3998-7387Sho Hata1https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0809-7145Keisuke Nansai2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2449-1874Yosuke Shigetomi3https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1384-0992Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Ritsumeikan University , 1-1-1 Nojihigashi, Kusatsu, Shiga 525-8577, JapanNational Institute for Environmental Studies , Japan, 16-2 Onogawa, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8506, JapanNational Institute for Environmental Studies , Japan, 16-2 Onogawa, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8506, JapanGraduate School of Science and Engineering, Ritsumeikan University , 1-1-1 Nojihigashi, Kusatsu, Shiga 525-8577, JapanAs the concept of planetary health garners increased attention, the necessity of quantifying the carbon footprint (CF) of healthcare supply chains has become more pronounced. Although global studies have examined the CF of the healthcare sector, there remains a notable gap in research concerning the CF of long-term care (LTC) services, which are essential to human health and welfare. We harmonized environmental input–output analysis with data derived from the national representative consumer-expenditure survey and LTC insurance statistics obtained from domestic economic and medical datasets to detail the CF of Japanese households requiring LTC. In Japan, the CF per capita associated with care was boosted as the care level increased. Notably, there is a disparity of up to 14 times between the care level with the lowest CF emissions and that with the highest CF emissions. Furthermore, households with LTC insurance demonstrate higher per-capita CF than those without such insurance, even when other household consumption needs are considered. This trend may mitigate the reduction in total CF related to household consumption, despite a national population decline, due to the anticipated rise in demand for LTC driven by an aging population by the year 2050 which is the target year for achieving carbon neutrality in Japan. Although renewable energy promotion represents an effective supply-side solution, a demand-side approach, such as the prevention of LTC, offers benefits for both climate change mitigation and human health.https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ade72bcarbon footprintinput–output analysislong-term careaging societyplanetary health |
| spellingShingle | Narumi Kira Sho Hata Keisuke Nansai Yosuke Shigetomi Detailed carbon footprint of long-term care in an aging society Environmental Research Letters carbon footprint input–output analysis long-term care aging society planetary health |
| title | Detailed carbon footprint of long-term care in an aging society |
| title_full | Detailed carbon footprint of long-term care in an aging society |
| title_fullStr | Detailed carbon footprint of long-term care in an aging society |
| title_full_unstemmed | Detailed carbon footprint of long-term care in an aging society |
| title_short | Detailed carbon footprint of long-term care in an aging society |
| title_sort | detailed carbon footprint of long term care in an aging society |
| topic | carbon footprint input–output analysis long-term care aging society planetary health |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ade72b |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT narumikira detailedcarbonfootprintoflongtermcareinanagingsociety AT shohata detailedcarbonfootprintoflongtermcareinanagingsociety AT keisukenansai detailedcarbonfootprintoflongtermcareinanagingsociety AT yosukeshigetomi detailedcarbonfootprintoflongtermcareinanagingsociety |