Opinion Paper

Modelling the greenhouse gas impact of volatile anaesthetic agents in South Africa

Esther Cloete, Steffen Rex, Alain Kalmar
Southern African Journal of Anaesthesia and Analgesia | Vol 32, No 1 | a1542 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/sajaa.v32i1.1542 | © 2026 Esther Cloete, Steffen Rex, Alain Kalmar | This work is licensed under CC Attribution 4.0
Submitted: 08 December 2025 | Published: 13 April 2026

About the author(s)

Esther Cloete, Department of Anaesthesia and Perioperative Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town New Somerset Hospital, Cape Town, South Africa
Steffen Rex, Department of Anaesthesiology, University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven Department of Cardiovascular Sciences, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
Alain Kalmar, Department of Anaesthesia, Intensive Care and Pain Medicine, Maria Middelares Hospital, Gent Department of Electronics and Information Systems IBiTech, Gent University, Gent, Belgium

Abstract

Desflurane has been removed from practice across the National Health Service (NHS) hospitals in the United Kingdom (2024)1 and the European Parliament has prohibited the use of desflurane from 2026, with restricted exceptions. Given desflurane’s disproportionate greenhouse gas impact (GGI), we should consider whether South Africa should phase out the use of desflurane.

Keywords

CO₂-equivalent emissions; desflurane; global warming potential; greenhouse gas impact; sevoflurane; volatile anaesthetic agents

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