How can we make healthcare more sustainable while ensuring everyone has access to the medical care they need? In the first episode of Season 4 of PPLS Perspectives, PhD researcher Calliope Vakalopoulou speaks to Dr Cristina Richie, Lecturer in Ethics of Technology at the University of Edinburgh, about the ethical challenges of decarbonising healthcare. We can decarbonise healthcare ethically in a number of ways that actually don’t touch the core of medicine, the core of the goals of medicine, which is to treat, to heal, to cure, to prevent disease. And that’s the challenge that I’m facing: actually, where do you draw that line? And beyond that, do patients want that? Do healthcare providers want to get on board with it? And will healthcare administrators support it? Dr Cristina Richie Lecturer in Ethics of Technology, Dept of Philosophy Watch on YouTube Watch on MediaHopper This Episode's GuestDr Cristina RichieCristina was previously a Lecturer in the Philosophy and Ethics of Technology department at the Delft University of Technology and an Assistant Professor in the Bioethics and Interdisciplinary Studies Department at the Brody School of Medicine, East Carolina University. She previously taught at Kings’ College London, Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, and Tufts University. Her writing awards include the William E. Lapus Health Sciences Author Medal (2019), the Catholic Health Association Annual Theology and Ethics Colloquium Award (2013), and the San Ramon Valley Times Gold Pen Award (1999). Dr Richie is also the Head of the Netherlands Unit of the UNESCO Chair in Bioethics and holds a nominated fellowship at the Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity at Trinity International University. Related linksDr Cristina RichieGoogle Scholar Principles of Green Bioethics: Sustainability in Health CareEnvironmental Ethics and Medical Reproduction This article was published on Tuesday 13 October 2026
