Estimation of the Carbon Footprint Associated With Attendees of the American Psychiatric Association Annual Meeting

Joshua R Wortzel,Janet Lewis,Alec Stashevsky,Elizabeth Haase,Beth Mark,Jeremy D Wortzel

doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.35641

Abstract

This cross-sectional study uses data from the 2018 and 2019 American Psychiatric Association (APA) annual meetings to assess the carbon dioxide equivalent emissions associated with the conferences and how they may be reduced.

Highlights

The health care system produces 8% of US greenhouse gas emissions.[1]
The geometric minimization analysis corroborated that northeastern US locations were associated with optimized American Psychiatric Association (APA) meeting emissions in worldwide location comparisons
The estimated carbon emissions associated with the APA annual meetings were significant and could vary 3-fold by conference location

Summary

Introduction

The health care system produces 8% of US greenhouse gas emissions.[1] International medical conferences contribute to these emissions substantially; 1 conference alone can produce the carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) emissions of an entire city in a single week.[2] Virtual conferences necessitated by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic have been associated with reduced emissions of up to 99.97%,3 and it is estimated that holding conferences biennially in accessible locations and increasing virtual presentations may be associated with reductions in emissions of 90%.2. The American Psychiatric Association (APA) has made addressing the effects of climate change on mental health one of its priorities,[4] yet it holds one of the largest annual. Estimated CO2e Emissions Associated With APA Annual Meetings at Actual and Theoretical Meeting Locationsa

Methods

Results

Conclusion