Combatting Climate Change is a Priority to Help Ensure a Healthier Future for the World
Paul Duffy
Senior Vice President of Small Molecule Operations, Pfizer
Climate change is one of the defining issues of our time and collective action is needed to mitigate the risks it poses. Not only is it having an impact on our planet, but it is impacting our lives, our communities, and our health.
When it comes to health, climate change directly impacts vector-borne diseases, respiratory conditions, and mental health illnesses. The indirect ripple effects of that could mean strained health systems and disruption to socioeconomic and environmental stability. In fact, the World Economic Forum (WEF) estimates that by 2050, climate change will cause 14.5 million additional deaths worldwide.
As a company committed to delivering breakthroughs that change patients’ lives, Pfizer has a role to respond to and mitigate the effects of a warming planet both through our medicines and services we develop, and the way in which we manage our operations.
This commitment to reducing our environmental footprint is driven by our business purpose and centres on prioritising impact reduction and conservation of resources, as well as minimising the amount of waste arising from our operations.
Science-based targets
If we are to achieve meaningful results, we need to have science-based targets and sustained commitment across our operations and supply chain.
Central to this is our goal to achieve the voluntary Net Zero Standard. In order to reach this goal, our company emissions need to come down 95% from 2019 levels by 2040 while emissions from our value chain will need to be reduced by 90% by that date, compared to our 2019 baseline.
At a global level, we have made a near-term commitment to sourcing 100% of electricity globally from renewables by 2030. Already our Irish manufacturing sites in Newbridge, Co. Kildare and Ringaskiddy, Co. Cork are using 100% green electricity, sourced from the grid, while both sites along with our manufacturing plant in Grange Castle, Co. Dublin have site-specific net zero master plans focused on achieving our Net Zero target.
Collective responsibility
The reality is that, to make a real impact in lessening the impact of climate change, we need to come together and act collectively across our wider industry. The healthcare sector accounts for four to five percent of global Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions, making it the fifth largest contributor in the world. So, we have a collective responsibility to do something about it. Therefore, we expect all our suppliers to commit to ambitious, science-based GHG reduction targets and have integrated environmental criteria in our supplier sourcing, contracting, and performance management processes.
At Pfizer, we hope that in leading by example, we can motivate others, including those in our own supply chain, to join us in this collective work so that we can protect global health and the health of our planet.
The time to act is now.
If we are to achieve meaningful results, we need to have science-based targets and sustained commitment across our operations and supply chain.
