CSHP is fully committed to supporting and advocating on behalf of the profession to make pharmacy’s voice heard and stimulate action in areas that require multi-agency or systemic change as it pertains to sustainability and climate change in pharmacy practice.
It is with this focus towards climate action in mind, that we share the following resources to help make pharmacy a more sustainable practice.
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CSHP’s Sustainability Task Force
The Sustainability Task Force produced a set of short-term and long-term recommendations covering various aspects of CSHP work. This work will include:
- Advocacy & partnership
- Education
- Policy and procedure development
- Research and quality improvement
- Branding
These recommendations advocate to Accreditation Canada, NAPRA, plus federal and provincial governments for the inclusion of environmental sustainability criteria, standards, and practices.
They also plan for the creation of a planetary health education series, guideline development for sustainable conferences, and establishing a dedicated sustainability section on the CSHP website.
This task force was dissolved and was replaced by a Sustainability Implementation Task Force. With several fresh faces on board, the new task force will be putting these approved recommendations into action.
Co-Chairs of the Sustainability Implementation Task Force, Dr. Karen Dahri and Kirsten Tangedal, also covered how the task force has been working to tackle climate change in their introduction to CSHP's featured Hospital News section.
Practice resources
CASCADES Canada
CASCADES (Creating a Sustainable Canadian Health System in a Climate Crisis) supports Canada’s healthcare community in transitioning towards high-quality, low-carbon, climate resilient care. Across ten priority action areas, the initiative generates robust resources, develops training and events to strengthen capacity, and supports pan-Canadian networks for exchange and coordination.
In March 2025, CSHP and CASCADES Canada released their collaborative playbook, Integrating Environmental Sustainability into Hospital Pharmacies. This step-by-step guide for Canadian healthcare-systems providers and administrators working in pharmacies of bed-based healthcare settings. Developed with Canadian pharmacy professionals in mind to provide them with information, resources, and considerations to guide a more climate-resilient way to practice.
In addition, CASCADES Canada has released other sustainability-focused playbooks, which have been reviewed and proudly endorsed by CSHP’s Sustainability Task Force. Check out these CSHP-endorsed playbooks by clicking the images below, or visit the CASCADES Canada website for even more learning materials to enhance your sustainable pharmacy practices.
Featured Hospital News Section
For 2024, CSHP's special focus for our featured section in Hospital News centered on sustainability in pharmacy and healthcare. The articles featured include:
- Leading the Way: How Hospital Pharmacy is Tackling Climate Change
- Discover how CSHP's Sustainability Task Force is tackling climate change through advocacy, education, policy development, and research in this introduction by SITF co-chairs Dr. Karen Dahri and Kirsten Tangedal.
- Surfing the green wave: A short story on hospital pharmacy sustainability and leadership
- Ariane Blanc, Director of Pharmacy and Chief Clinical Pharmacist at CHEO, shares her personal and professional journey towards sustainability in pharmacy.
- Pharmaceuticals in the environment: Impact on non-target organisms
- Section contributor and Clinical Pharmacy Specialist Gigi Wong examines how drug contamination from human excretion, improper disposal, and manufacturing impacts wildlife, highlighting devastating effects on various species.
- CSHP's climate-conscious recommendations
- On May 15, 2024, Choosing Wisely Canada unveiled 40+ recommendations on eco-friendly practices across 20+ specialties. Professional Practice Specialist Kiet-Nghi Cao discusses CSHP's contributions and the importance of addressing climate change.
- The Case for Integrating Sustainability into Pharmacy Curriculum: Student Insights
- Student pharmacist Jacqueline Tian-Tran advocates for the integration of sustainability into pharmacy curricula, emphasizing its significance for hospital pharmacists' role in environmental conservation efforts.
- Breathing Deep: The environmental impact of inhalers
- Canada faces a cycle of worsening respiratory health due to climate change with inhaler use, ironically, exacerbating the issue. Layne Liberty covers this cycle, and what pharmacy professionals can do to put an end to it.
- Understanding the Environmental Impact of Hospital Pharmacy Supply Chains- and exploring ways that we can mitigate their harm
- The pharmacy sector's environmental impact includes greenhouse gas emissions, pharmaceutical contamination in ecosystems, and plastic waste. Explore their effects on climate and health, and learn about mitigation strategies through this article by Huy Pham.
Choosing Wisely Canada
Choosing Wisely Canada is the national leader in advocating for the reduction of unnecessary tests and treatments across Canada, aiming to protect patients from potential harm, conserve valuable healthcare resources, and address the climate crisis. They collaborate with various organizations to identify and develop recommendations for commonly overused tests and treatments that do not enhance patient care. These efforts help mobilize healthcare providers and their organizations to integrate these recommendations into routine practice.
Recognizing the essential role of pharmacy, Choosing Wisely Canada invited CSHP to collaborate with our peers at the Canadian Pharmacists Association (CPhA) to represent pharmacy professionals across diverse practice settings. Together, the organizations developed five climate action recommendations relevant to their memberships. Additionally, CSHP updated its previous Choosing Wisely recommendations, incorporating five new climate-focused tests and treatments specifically tailored to healthcare-system pharmacy. This initiative was unveiled as part of a broader set of 40+ eco-friendly recommendations spanning over 20 specialties, each focusing on tests, treatments, and procedures with environmental impacts. CSHP played a key role in the program's launch, participating in a webinar alongside the Canadian Critical Care Society, spotlighting these vital climate action recommendations.
The following links include CSHP's work with Choosing Wisely Canada:
CSHP Clinical Pearls and Resource Spotlights
CSHP’s students have written multiple highly informative and insightful articles during their rotation with us including:
Conferences Sustainability guidelines
CSHP has developed comprehensive, sustainability-focused guidelines to assist attendees, hosts, and sponsors in planning and participating in conferences responsibly and effectively.