The University of Sydney’s Wiser Healthcare NetZero Leads Partnership is a co-designed collaboration helping to decarbonise clinical care across NSW Health. The partnership brings together the University’s Wiser Healthcare research group, NSW Health’s Climate Risk and Net Zero Unit, ten clinician Net Zero Leads, the Agency for Clinical Innovation, Health Consumers NSW and the HEAL Network to address healthcare’s significant carbon footprint.

The partnership supports clinician-led decarbonisation projects across high-impact clinical areas, including anaesthetics, pharmacy, emergency care, intensive care, allied health, surgery and medical imaging. By combining frontline clinical expertise with academic rigour, policy alignment and translation pathways, the initiative evaluates carbon, cost and care-quality outcomes together.

The partnership has produced peer-reviewed publications and has delivered measurable impacts including 239,110 kg CO₂e saved annually in one anaesthetic department. By generating practical evidence for safer, lower-carbon care, the initiative demonstrates how university–health system partnerships can accelerate sustainable healthcare transformation.