The industry Low Carbon Clinical Trials (iLCCT) consortium
A collaboration to measure and reduce the environmental impact of clinical trials
In 2022, the Sustainable Healthcare Coalition formed the industry Low Carbon Clinical Trials (iLCCT) consortium as a collaboration of industry and academic stakeholders.
The aim of the iLCCT was to develop a standardized framework and tool that could be used by key stakeholders across the life sciences ecosystem to estimate the emissions of clinical trial activities and ultimately reduce clinical trial emissions.
In Nov 2023, the iLCCT published a standardized framework and in February 2025, launched the Clinical Trial Carbon Calculator as a free to access, intuitive self-service tool.
This collaborative approach has accelerated action on sustainability for those who control, influence and have an interest in driving healthcare sustainability.
Our ambition
To deliver a credible framework for carbon emission assessment including a common methodology, open-access tools and shared reporting framework.
To drive down carbon emissions associated with clinical trials through shared learning and wider stakeholder engagement.
How we will get there
Members are working together to:
- Continuously improve the Clinical Trial Carbon Calculator based on user feedback
- Develop and expand educational resources on leading practice for sustainable clinical trials
- Continued data collection to enable robust benchmarking
- Widen engagement across the clinical trial eco-system through peer-reviewed publication, conferences and by expanding the Community of Practicec
- Accelerate low-carbon, transparent and resilient clinical trial supply chains
How the iLCCT works
The iLCCT consortium operates on pre-competitive principles. Members work collectively, sharing knowledge and resources in areas where collaboration serves a common purpose, without compromising their individual competitive positions.
The iLCCT’s work is grounded in Sustainable Healthcare Coalition’s clinical trials framework, and complements the objectives of the Sustainable Markets Initiative (SMI) Health Systems Task Force, who committed to measure and report trial emissions, with the ultimate goal of designing and delivering low-carbon trials to support the health of people and the planet.
In addition, the iLCCT partners with Pistoia Alliance, a global, not-for-profit membership organisation which includes among others 18 of top 20 pharma and service providers. It advocates for pre-competitive collaboration in life sciences R&D, and runs projects driven by its members, hence the Alliance was an ideal partner to support the work to co-develop a calculator and framework to measure greenhouse gas emissions from clinical research.
Industry members
The iLCCT consortium brings together organisations from across pharma, united by a shared commitment to sustainable trials.
Technical partner
The Sustainable Healthcare Coalition’s clinical trials methodology was developed and is maintained in technical partnership with ERM (Environmental Resources Management), the world’s largest pure-play sustainability consultancy.
Academic partners
Sustainable Healthcare Coalition have had an ongoing collaboration with the Low Carbon Clinical Trials project for academic clinical trials units since 2020. Jointly, we published a call to action in the Lancet in 2021. The project group subsequently published an NIHR-funded methodology for estimating the direct and indirect carbon impact of clinical trials in 2024 and a further publication examining the carbon footprint of ten academic clinical trials in 2024.
Interested in joining the iLCCT?
The iLCCT consortium welcomes enquiries from organisations interested in contributing to this work. We would love to hear from you.
