AstraZeneca is a global science-led biopharmaceutical company that has been disclosing through CDP for over a decade and has been ranked on the CDP A List for both climate change and water security for six consecutive years.
Since 2015, AstraZeneca has delivered a 59% reduction in their Scope 1 and 2 emissions and in October 2021, AstraZeneca became one of the first companies worldwide to have its emissions reductions targets verified by the Science Based Targets initiative’s new Net-Zero Standard.
With action on Scope 1 and 2 GHG emission reductions well underway, AstraZeneca has accelerated action with its suppliers to reduce Scope 3 emissions, aided by its CDP Supply Chain membership.
Ambition Zero Carbon
AstraZeneca has set an ambitious target to halve their entire value chain footprint (from 2015 baseline) by 2030 leading to a 90% reduction by 2045 (from 2019 baseline).
“Our Scope 3 footprint is more than 20 times greater than our Scope 1 and 2 footprint, and our ambitions will only be achieved through close collaboration with our supply chain partners,” says Jenny Perrie, AstraZeneca’s Scope 3 lead in the Global Procurement team.
“We cannot do this alone; we need to know our suppliers are on the same road to net-zero. So we have set the goal that, by 2025, 95% of our key suppliers and partners should have verified science-based targets, and we are working closely with our sector peers to support the progression to a low carbon economy.”
Perrie emphasized the role of CDP Supply Chain membership in achieving supply chain decarbonization: “We rely on our suppliers’ CDP submissions to gain consistent insight into our Scope 3 emissions. We want our suppliers to use a robust third-party platform so that when our suppliers submit data for AstraZeneca’s Scope 3 programme, it can also be used with their other customers. We recognize the need for common approaches to reporting, to simplify processes and accelerate sustainability. Through CDP Supply Chain membership, we are able to gain confirmation on how our suppliers are progressing with their GHG emissions reduction plans. We then collaborate with our suppliers using the data to create sustainability engagement plans to reach net-zero.”
Perrie continued, “We create opportunities to engage with our suppliers on sustainability, to raise awareness and share lessons learned by AstraZeneca, to reduce GHG emissions across all the procurement categories across our supply chain. In 2021, we invited our top 250 suppliers to participate in the CDP Supply Chain program, and more than 70% of those suppliers disclosed their climate change data, including many suppliers who had never disclosed through CDP before. In 2022, we have stepped up our action further as we recognize the need to accelerate change in this critical decade of delivery against global climate goals. In April 2022, we held a supplier engagement conference ‘Accelerating Sustainability’ for our key suppliers, setting out our clear expectations for 2022. We have now invited over 700 suppliers to report through CDP – nearly three times the number invited last year. The support given by CDP to educate and on-board our suppliers to the Supply Chain program has been essential to achieve this rapid ramp up.”
Purchasing power
“We recognize that every purchasing decision has an impact,” says Perrie, “And we have a responsibility to use our significant purchasing power to support our sustainability goals of developing a healthy society, healthy people and a healthy planet. Through our Positive Sourcing Program, we are embedding sustainability into end-to-end procurement processes, underpinning our delivery of a more sustainable future business,” explains Perrie.
“The sustainable development of our company cannot be separated from that of our suppliers. CDP Supply Chain membership is giving us deeper visibility into our suppliers’ year on year GHG reduction and is an efficient way for us to consistently engage with our suppliers. CDP Supply Chain membership is helping us to drive action towards our 2025, 2030 and longer-term net-zero goals” says Perrie.
Along with disclosure and CDP Supply Chain membership, it is the recognition of the interconnection between all areas of sustainability that drives AstraZeneca’s ambitious social, ethical and environmental sustainability strategy – one of the most innovative in the sector.