Guest Editorial: Sustainability and bioethics: where we have been, where we are, where we are going.

Bioethics, as we are too infrequently reminded, was originally an ethical system concerned with the 'problems of interference with other living beings ... and generally everything related to the balance of the ecosystem' according to the 1978 Encyclopedia of Bioethics (Reich [29]). Following from the United Kingdom Climate Change Act of 2008 (UK Public General Acts [32]), the document I Saving Carbon, Improving Health: NHS Carbon Reduction Strategy for England i encouraged carbon-neutral transportation - like walking and biking - eliminating animal-based foods from menus, and reducing water waste in health care facilities (National Health Services Sustainable Development Unit [21]). Similarly, the NHS I Climate Change Strategy for Wales i released in 2010 (National Health Services [19]), outlined policies for sustainable health care based on the groundbreaking data from the I Carbon Footprint of NHS Wales 2005-2009 i study (Lungley [14]). [Extracted from the article]