Following in AstraZeneca’s carbon-reduced footsteps, Novartis announced new sustainability targets on Tuesday, which include plans to neutralize supply chain emissions in the next 10 years.
The Swiss pharma aims to be carbon-neutral in its own operations by 2025, and across its supply chain by 2030. To get there, it says it will reduce absolute emissions by 35% across its value chain, and follow a “dual strategy” to decrease energy and fuel consumption, improve efficiency and adopt renewable energy sources. It audited all major sites for potential improvements.
“We have a longstanding, comprehensive energy and climate program, which aims to improve energy efficiency for all industrial and commercial operations and use renewable energy sources where available and feasible,” the company stated.
Novartis touted what it’s already doing to preserve the environment, including sequestering carbon through forestry projects in Colombia, Mali, China and Argentina. It planted 800 hectares of trees at the Santo Domingo Estate in Argentina in 2007, then added 2,250 hectares in the following three years. By 2040, the company expects to collect up to 2 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalents through the project. It also boasted of its Texas wind farm, and says it has similar plans to achieve green energy in Europe.
“After the successful completion of a renewable power purchase agreement in the US that achieved carbon neutrality in that market for procured electricity we are now actively pursuing a pan-European power purchase agreement that will achieve the same, decarbonizing our purchased electricity in one of our largest regions of operations and eliminating transition risk associated with carbon pricing,” Novartis’ CDP climate change information request states.
The announcement comes about 7 months after UK-based AstraZeneca committed to achieving negative carbon emissions across its value chain by 2030. The company will invest up to $1 billion in its “Ambition Zero Carbon” strategy, which includes using renewable energy for power and heat, and switching to a 100% electric vehicle fleet five years ahead of schedule.
“Climate change is an urgent threat to public health, the environment and the sustainability of the global economy. Since 2015, we have reduced our carbon emissions from operations by almost a third and our water consumption by almost one fifth,” AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot said in a statement.
