Climate change is a serious and persistent problem that affects every facet of people’s lives. With each passing decade, the pollution and changes to the environment enact irreversible damage to the world, with many of the problems humanity faces today being rooted in the mistakes of the past. The usage of fossil fuels, carbon emissions, industrial waste, and human carelessness have all culminated in an issue that will impact the people’s daily and professional lives. Climate change causes rapid jumps in temperature, abnormal weather, natural disasters, and other types of negative consequences. Climate change is in large part caused by human action, and the continued industrial development of the world can be accredited to exacerbating the problem further than ever. Total amount of energy production have been on an upward trend since the 1990’s increasing the acquisition of natural resources and the levels of pollution associated with the process. Procuring many of the planet’s resources, including oil and gas, refining them and using them in production takes up a large amount of energy, and produces unfathomable quantities of waste.
Global action has been varied in its scope, magnitude and effectiveness, but it is important to also look at the problem from a more national standpoint. In the Middle East region, the problems of climate change are especially dire, due to its geographical positioning and innate climate. Long periods of dry and hot weather lead to problems of food and water security, as well as crop production. While the issues are evident to many, the region is also plagued by an array of internal problems, including political unrest and economic instability (El-Geressi, 2020). Facing these problems depletes many Middle Eastern countries’ resources and pulls attention away from problems of the environment.
The problem can be further understood through applying a 5-why framework, to best outline some of the main points of consideration in the climate change discussion.
Why is Climate Change becoming an increasingly dangerous trend?
Extreme temperatures around the globe are becoming more prevalent, and natural disasters occur more frequently.
Why are changes in temperature dangerous?
Climate change has an adverse effect on people and the planet as a whole, with extreme temperature affecting agriculture, wildlife and food security all around the globe.
Why are there changes in temperature?
Pollution and carbon emissions trap warmth in the atmosphere, making it easier for the planet to warm up or become extremely cold.
Why is there pollution?
Excessive and wasteful production, as well as the usage of earth’s natural resources contributes to the creation of harmful emissions.
How do we prevent pollution?
Changes to promote green energy and sustainability need to be universally adopted and followed, empathising zero-waste production and long-term health of the planet.
If direct action is not taken to counteract the current problems in the environment, and the level of carbon emissions is not decreased, the occurring processes will be devastating to the earth in the next 100 years and further. The increases in extreme temperatures will become even more radical, raising the maximum temperatures of some regions to an unliveable standard, and killing many of the Earth’s ecological diversity with it.
In the medical sphere and the field and healthcare delivery, the changes in climate can also have a significant impact, which needs to be considered, analyzed, and taken into account when planning the operation of an organization. Climate change affects both the process of health delivery and healthcare management, creating additional health complications for the patients and requiring medical professionals to address it (Health Care Without Harm). By putting people’s health at risk, it interferes with the process of safeguarding their health and wellbeing (Benjamin, 2016). As one of the more vital and important industries in human life, the sphere of healthcare has a moral and professional obligation to become more sustainable and supportive of anti-climate change action. Currently united programs such as the Health Care Climate Challenge seek to unite healthcare providers in an effort of reducing the amount of emissions their work produces. As of 2019, the participants have reported “commitments to reduce their carbon emissions by more than 34 million metric tons”, which will work in substantially reducing the level of carbon emissions done by the medical sphere (Health Care Climate Challenge). In terms of organizational and management concepts, the problem also persists, forcing hospitals to take into account their contribution to the global environment and carbon footprint. To effectively combat the issue hospitals need to become less harmful to the environment and take into account their impact on the world around them. Current research details that hospitals can have a central role in the management of climate change response, acting as a preventative, informative and supportive organ to the population (Health Care Climate Challenge).
Organization’s Response
As an organization, a hospital or a healthcare facility has a number of novel ways of addressing the issue, including its organizational and practical manifestations. In terms of improving the standards of care for patients, a medical facility should be determined to adopt an environment-focused lens, one that can evaluate and measure the effects of climate change on people’s lives and health (Salas et al., 2020). Climate change limits the accessibility and quality of healthcare, which can only be challenged through forming an informed perspective on the problem and designing policies with the issue in mind. An improvement of the public health infrastructure, one that allows easier and more complete access to healthcare to people is an adequate way of addressing the problem (Salas et al., 2020). Healthcare organizations can also integrate the newest climate research into their practice, striving to better understand its effects and possible ways of counteracting them. In the sphere of lessening the medical organization’s contribution to global pollution, a number of approaches can be taken as well. First, an organization must strive to reduce its carbon emissions, with the overall goal of making it carbon-neutral in its operation. This is done by using recyclable materials, the use of renewable power, and better energy efficiency (Salas et al., 2020). The workforce and a hospital’s staff also need to be properly informed on the impact climate change has on their workplace, to be able to make informed work-related decisions and contribute to the global effort of combatting pollution. This can be accomplished through workplace education and awareness campaigns, designed to make employees more aware of climate conservation in their day-to-day work.
Other Global Issues
There are a number of global issues that have been caused by human action and its consequences alike, forcing humanity to find suitable ways of addressing problems they have created. World hunger, for example, is an issue entirely created by a lack of appropriate focus and planning from countries around the world, as well as the actions of corporations. Each day more food than needed is produced, with the majority of excess being thrown away and discarded, instead of being used to feed those in need. The distribution and delivery of food around the world are unequal, with some parts suffering from too much supply while others are not able to fulfill their demand. Health crises, similarly, are in large part the product of mismanagement and an inability to adjust healthcare to support a larger amount of people. HIV and AIDS both continue to be major issues for the human population, in large part due to the lack of proper response in many countries, as well as the lack of education for the people affected. Many countries and regions focus on restricting reproductive health education and information from the public, making them more susceptible to issues concerning STDs.
Risk Assessment and Major Incident Planning
Accessing possible risks and combatting them at the planning phase of the organization is extremely important, as it allows organizations to effectively resolve issues before they emerge. Planning for a major incident should be accomplished through at least 4 stages, including identification, containment, resolution, and maintenance (Andress, 2015). The first step would be to identify all possible major incidents, with them being defined as an urgent issue of high impact that affects a major portion of an organization. After an issue has been recognized, major stakeholders, such as the management, need to be informed. To properly address the incident at hand, a major incident team must be assembled, focused on minimizing the impact of the event and establishing effective communication. Containment measures can include identifying the root causes of the problems and coming up with a solution to them. The next step, resolution, is oriented at promoting directed change and seeing improvements in an organization’s operation. The last stage, maintenance, is accomplished through evaluating the effects of incident planning, reviewing the consequences of the event, producing proper documentation, and measuring the effectiveness of the response in an effort of improvement.
Leadership and the Types of Leadership
Leadership is extremely important in the process of leading, directing, and implementing change. By having a qualified and capable leader with a defined set of goals, an organization can work to achieve better production results, more operational effectiveness and efficiency, as well as better staff satisfaction rates. The existence of a Mis Leader is especially important to note in this consideration, as a professional of that title can be able to more effectively approach the question of a productive leadership. By definition, Mis Leadership involves the utilization and acquisition of information to enhance the decision-making process. The approach can One of the important qualities of a Mis leader is that they are able to learn quickly and adjust to the changing environment around them, which is most necessary to lead a company down a cleaner path. By cooperating with the staff, leaders find opportunities for innovation and change, addressing the emerging problems in the order of rising importance. Importantly, the leader has ways of affecting others in a non-coercive manner, promoting healthy attitudes to changing work practices and the development professional landscape. Furthermore, managers are the key factor in the process of addressing problems, decision-making, and solving the global issues an organization faces. They have the ability to provide a wider overview of the work process, seeing the relationships and interactions between different parts of an organization. A distanced and overarching look can provide newer perspectives and approaches to the professional sphere, in addition to successfully identifying the correct course of action in any particular situation. In cases where a global problem is addressed, or needs to be resolved in a complete fashion, the swift and correct judgment of leaders is the much-needed guarantee of success, allowing an organization to most fully answer the challenges faces in the modern era. By combining both personal and professional qualities, leaders are able to introduce and direct active change, establish cooperation between parts of an organization and monitor the completion of particular tasks. There are a number of different types of managers, each suitable for their own approaches to guiding other employees and enacting change. A number of personal characteristics are usually needed to create a good leadership position, including courage, communication skills, social intelligence, argumentativeness, decisiveness, and many others. Most importantly of all, they are able to utilize both the tools available to them and the latest, most relevant pool of knowledge to achieve the goals of an organization.
Role of Leadership in Climate Change
In regards to climate change, the interference and influence of a leader is an absolute necessity. To answer the threat of a global problem, a “global” solution is needed, meaning that the appropriate response to cases of large emerging problems must affect the whole organization and introduce lasting structural changes. A leader, then, must be the cornerstone of change, acting as a directing force in the collective effort of change. To combat issues of climate change, a leader must be able to introduce policies to the workplace that encourage the employees to act in a more environmentally conscious way in regards to their jobs, including the considerations of their day-to-day practice. A manager also needs to establish a framework that will allow their organization to shift from the use of non-biodegradable materials that pollute the environment to more sustainable options, ones that help to reduce the overall carbon emissions of the workplace. The changes in energy production methods such as more sustainable sources of electricity must also be approved and lead by a manager. As a person with the power and the position to most comprehensively understand the condition of their business, the leader has the ability to measure the scope of the change introduced, and evaluate the effectiveness of global problem response.
In terms of promoting better healthcare practices and patient care, a leader is also extremely important. They have the opportunity to apply regulations to employee training and staffing, ensuring that the working doctors, healthcare specialists, and nurses have the most desirable set of skills and dispositions in the workplace. To effectively combat climate change and its effects on the operation of healthcare organizations, leaders must be able to access the possible risks and benefits associated with the problem, create effective approaches, and see them through. By promoting organization-wide change, a manager introduces new and innovative frameworks of engaging with the problem, helping to significantly reduce the harm associated with it. They are a unifying force that monitors and guides the organization along the path of change while adjusting the needed course of action in accordance with the results achieved.
Reference List
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Benjamin, G.C., 2016. Shelter in the Storm: Health Care Systems and Climate Change. The Milbank Quarterly, 94(1), pp.18–22.
El-Geressi, Y., 2020. Climate Change, Water Woes, and Conflict Concerns in the Middle East: A Toxic Mix. Majalla. Web.
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Health Care Without Harm, Climate change, health, and health care – How physicians can help. Available at: noharm.org [Accessed June 4, 2021].
Salas, R.N. et al., 2020. Adding A Climate Lens To Health Policy In The United States. Health Affairs, 39(12), pp.2063–2070.
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