Time for change - pharma's sustainability efforts on show

EPM editor Reece Armstrong looks at the pharma industry's sustainability efforts and the future considerations for globalised supply chains. 

The end of 2021 saw sustainability placed on the global stage. With COP26 featuring a gathering of world leaders, scientists and industry discussing the very real and ongoing threat of climate change, the call was made to what can be done to reduce our impact on the planet.

In some respects, the pharmaceutical industry answered this call. The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) and other organisations issued a joint statement on the work the biopharma industry is doing to minimise its impact on the environment.

In another major show of force, 10 of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies signed up to a new programme intended to increase access to renewable energy and help decarbonise the industry’s value chain.

These commitments were made during a global event which positioned climate change as possibly the biggest threat to humankind. Cynics might say announcements made during COP26 are simply well-timed PR stunts but in many ways the pharma industry’s efforts are encouraging.

A report by EcoAct of companies across the DOW 30, Euro Stoxx 50 and the FTSE 100 highlighted that the pharma industry does particularly well when it comes to reporting on emissions.

For instance, this year saw all biopharmaceutical companies in the report detail their Scope 1 and 2 emissions, with 63% disclosing their Scope 3 footprints. More so, ranked within the top 20 performing companies for sustainability were GSK, AstraZeneca, and Sanofi, setting a strong precedent for other pharma companies to follow.

That some of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies can commit to change – especially given their globalised supply chains – should be welcomed by other industries as an example of what is possible.  

Of course, we know that the pharma industry is an emission-intensive sector and is even believed to have a larger carbon footprint than that of the automotive industry. That changes are happening is welcome, but the key now is to continue to hold companies to account over their sustainability targets.

With Covid-19 generating a lot of goodwill towards the life sciences industry, pharma now has the chance to step forward and show the world how emissions across global supply chains can be reduced.

The global nature of pharma’s supply chains puts the industry at threat of overlooking resource intensive areas. Outsourced manufacturing, which can take place in countries where regulations surrounding sustainable practices may not have been developed, means pharma has a choice to make of where it does business.

That and many other choices will be crucial if climate catastrophe is to be avoided. We know that the health of the planet and its population are interlinked. To ignore climate change is to ignore the lives of billions.