Quantifying the carbon footprint of clinical trials: guidance development and case studies.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The urgency of the climate crisis requires attention from biomedical research, not least clinical trials which can involve significant greenhouse gas emissions. The Low Carbon Clinical Trials Working Group set out a strategy to reduce the emissions of clinical trials, starting with the development of a method to measure their carbon footprint (CO₂e).

Methods

As a first step, we developed a process map defining clinical trial core activities. Corresponding emission factors were sourced to convert activity data into greenhouse gas emissions. The subsequent method was applied to two Cancer Research UK (CRUK)-funded trials (the international randomised sarcoma trial CASPS (ISRCTN63733470) and the UK cohort-based breast cancer trial PRIMETIME (ISRCTN41579286

SUBMITTER: Griffiths J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10823997 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature