Trusts will be required to chart their sustainability progress as part of their annual reporting obligations.
The legislation, which came into effect last week, aims to tackle the NHS’s immense carbon impact which totals 20m tonnes of CO2.
According to the NHS Sustainable Development Unit, the health service is responsible for 25% of the UK’s public sector carbon footprint.
To coincide with the new regulations, carbon reduction charity The Nottingham Energy Partnership has published a league table of all UK trusts’ public reporting on sustainability to date.
The data shows that many trusts have already taken action to reduce emissions before the mandate came into effect, however a substantial majority still have work to do to meet the new standards.
Maxine Perella