Time to integrate climate science into kidney care planning: a 'PASIGE' to a climate change mitigation and adaptation framework.

Purpose of review: Kidney diseases affect around 850 million people globally and are a growing public health burden, with high rates of associated cardiovascular mortality and no major decline in age-standardized mortality compared to other noncommunicable diseases. Climate change is an inequitable driver of kidney diseases, and climate-related disasters can disrupt access to life-sustaining kidney replacement therapies. Conversely, the care of patients with kidney diseases contributes to greenhouse gas emissions, pollution, and generates large amounts of waste.

Recent findings: Environmentally sustainable kidney care planning is pursuing kidney care practices and innovations that minimize environmental harm while remaining patient-centered and cost-effective. An adaptation and mitigation framework (a structured approach to developing adaptation strategies, policies, and measures) to guide this is lacking.

Summary: We propose the 'PASIGE' framework to guide climate science integration in kidney care planning -> Prevent: approaches to prevent kidney disease, its progression to kidney failure, and complications; Adopt: sustainable lifestyle, practices and therapies; Screen: targeted population screening for early detection and identification of kidney disease; Innovate: technology, manufacturing, procurement, energy sources and transportation; Generate: sustainably powered and produced low-impact net zero waste kidney replacement therapies resilient to climate threats; and Enhance: patient engagement, care quality, and system resiliency.