Interplanetary

Amid the recent global instability and challenging times, it may feel less important to talk about sustainability as a priority for governments and companies. But we still need to keep momentum in order to provide a sustainable future and meet the established goals set.

The issue of sustainability is a key area where the pharmaceutical industry can make a real difference. With ambitious targets set by the United Nations and COP26 – and consumers proving savvier about making sustainable choices – the call to ‘be green’ is growing stronger at every operational level; across transport, supply-chain, manufacturing and energy sourcing.

This presents a real chance for the industry to grow its sustainable mindset and embed it into the corporate culture.

For the entire health ecosystem, the post-covid world presents new challenges, but it’s also a massive opportunity for change. COVID-19 has shown us what we could achieve if we came together to support public health in a crisis. Now, we need to build on that momentum and implement what we have learnt. We cannot drive change by working in isolation – we must actively work with all players across the health ecosystem towards achievable and meaningful sustainability goals.

In sickness and in health

A major challenge for the NHS will be achieving commitments to carbon net zero by 2045. How can this be met and who can help? We have an opportunity to help the NHS meet its ambitions. After all, global health is human health.

Medicines account for around 25% of emissions within the NHS in England and can produce a significant amount of waste. So here we have a challenge ripe for pharma to prove its innovating worth – how can we support the NHS in delivering life-saving medications more sustainably? One way Novartis has addressed this issue is by committing to using more renewable electricity; to reduce the emissions produced across our business functions.

In 2020, Novartis signed five Virtual Power Purchase Agreements (VPPAs), which are expected to collectively add more than 277 megawatts of clean power to the electrical grid. This puts us on track to meet our target of using 100% renewable electricity in our European operations by 2023 and become net zero by 2040, to support the NHS in tackling this issue.

Innovative solutions are desperately needed across the board to make a real dent in the environmental impact of the pharma industry. Also, with the NHS’s pledge to no longer purchase from suppliers that do not at least meet their commitments to net zero by 2030, it is crucial we get this right.

Pharma companies can support this by utilising the power of partnerships with their own suppliers. For example, at Novartis we have a ‘Suppliers Sustainability Playbook’ to guide partners on the high standards we expect and how we can help them meet sustainability targets because that ultimately brings us all closer to carbon net zero.

Holding all players in the pharma arena responsible will be key to bringing sustainability to the forefront of what we do. With the NHS deadline of carbon net zero 2040, and even stronger pressure from the public, we should not wait any longer.
Sustainability is ultimately a global health problem and we all need to take our part in keeping the solutions in focus.