Social care, climate action and sustainability

Reflecting on ways the social care sector can take action to tackle climate change.

This July’s extreme heat, which resulted in the first recorded 40°C in the UK, shows the very real effects of climate change. Scotland may not have been quite so hot, we still set temperature records far beyond what we’re equipped to deal with. In 2021, the Red Cross published a report ‘Feeling the heat’ (this link will take you away from our website) which warned of the increased prevalence of heatwaves especially for vulnerable populations.

Older people, people living in urban populations and those with underlying health conditions are all at serious risk. We are acutely aware of the dangers that cold weather poses on people’s health and increased deaths. Further attention needs to be paid to the risks associated with heatwaves, hot weather and the subsequent strain they place on our health and social care systems, all of which are rooted in climate change.

Climate change has been identified as the biggest threat to public health. Health and social care will play a crucial role; both in addressing the impacts and in adapting and taking action to tackle climate change. But how can we ensure that we realise meaningful and sustainable change?

In the lead up to last year’s COP26 the Health and Social Care Academy (the Academy) looked at two intersecting areas of focus: climate action in the social care sector and the development of 20-minute neighbourhoods.

In the context of climate discourse, the social care sector has largely been neglected. To help focus attention the Academy worked with Scottish Care to host a series of roundtable events to raise awareness of the role that social care can play in supporting sustainability efforts and taking climate action. Following the series the ‘Climate Action and the Social Care Collective’ report was published which outlined key principles and calls to action.

Investing in the social care workforce was identified as a core call to action. Through the series it was recognised that the care sector plays an important role in creating green sustainable jobs. However, the sector itself if often low paid, understaffed, and short term contracted.

Scottish Women’s budget group recognises that women make up the majority of the workforce (85%) and that the undervaluing of the care sector is linked to the status of women’s work. We therefore welcome the recent report published by the second Just Transition Commission (this link will take you away from our website) which explicitly recognises the role that social infrastructure, covering education, health and care, plays in supporting the economy and providing jobs. The commission recognises the structural inequalities and recommends investing in a package of conditions which demonstrates the value of jobs such as those in the social care sector and the role in our economy. Providing the right conditions gives the workforce the time and space to get involved in conversations about climate change and take action.

“Workers in social infrastructure jobs are critically undervalued, and tend to be women, migrants, and ethnic minorities. People more dependent on social infrastructure include women, children, people with disabilities, and the elderly.” (Just Transition Commission)

The social care workforce is also currently heavily reliant on private cars, a major contributor to transport related emissions. At the same time, we heard during our 20-minute neighbourhood event series that local employment opportunities are an important aspect of the concept. The social care sector was highlighted as one which could provide local jobs and opportunities through self-directed support, allowing for more choice and person-centred care.

With some creative thinking and planning, it should be possible to reduce the climate impacts of care work by enabling workers to carry out their essential role closer to home, without needing to drive so often or so far. Additionally, if services, including health and social care, were available more locally this could have positive implications for climate and the environment.

With more extreme weather in store for the future it is essential to look at how all sectors can take action to tackle climate change. Valuing care, investing in the workforce, and looking at how we deliver care locally are all ways the social care sector can be supported to be more sustainable.

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