Accelerating action as we work together to build a more sustainable future – Pharma Sustainability Integrates 2024

The event was opened by Roz Bekker, Managing Director, Janssen UK & Ireland and ABPI Board Sponsor for Sustainability, who started by thanking LSI and the ABPI for running the event and putting together a fantastic agenda. Roz emphasised that patients and the community need to be at the forefront of this discussion.

“We are already seeing the impact of climate change on our collective mental and physical health – with increased evidence of certain cancers, respiratory and infectious diseases.”

“That the climate emergency disproportionately affects the most vulnerable in society and will worsen health inequalities.”

“It is now more important than ever that, across healthcare, we collaborate and work together to realise the change we need.”

She spoke of the critical role that the pharma industry must play in driving cleaner production methods, accelerating green chemistry, and reducing the environmental impact of creating and distributing medicines. Her key message of the day was to focus on collaboration between the NHS and industry to create innovative solutions to sustainability.

“In summary, driving sustainable healthcare is synonymous with what’s best for patients and for the viability of the wider system: reducing environmental health risks, reduced costs and increased resilience of health systems and the workforce.”

• The most recent scientific data emerging on global climate change, shows that without action, the earth will soon become ‘unliveable’ for humans and animals alike
• According to the data, we are on a trajectory to making 96% of life on earth today extinct by the end of this century.
• 30m tonnes of ice per hour is being lost from the Greenland ice sheet, leading to unprecedented sea level rise

Although the numbers are daunting, Hugh reassured the room that we can still change the story and issued an urgent “call to arms” to the pharmaceutical sector. The healthcare industry is responsible for 5% of greenhouse gas emissions and 11.7% of global GDP. If the sector prioritises de-carbonisation now, the planet and its population stand a chance of survival.

A strategy of applying pressure on banks to prioritise sustainable investment, reducing patient visits, adopting renewable energy, moving towards locally produced, seasonal plant-based foods and away from a consumer society is needed.

In the face of a near-certain catastrophe, the healthcare profession can be the heroes, as opposed to the villains. Hugh emphasised that the day’s debate must focus on the actions the healthcare industry can take immediately and collaboratively to save the planet.

Dave then spoke about how societal pressure and strong leadership will result in change, explaining, “The next generation will make significant choices about medicine based on the sustainability of the companies that make them – companies that don’t address this are going to be left behind.”

Outlining and defining the goals for the industry, Fiona said “It’s not a question of if we’re going to do it, but how. We need to start from this mindset.”

Niels encouraged the industry to look at the full patient care pathway to identify the hotspots where the biggest differences can be made. “We are comfortable with balancing cost effectiveness with patient outcomes, but we have a way to go before we are looking at carbon effectiveness in the same way – how do we balance the health of the planet with the health of the individual?”

Richard agreed and spoke about the need for there to be independent scrutiny of measurement processes. He emphasised, “We have to be pragmatic and develop simple rules that all companies can follow. Measurements don’t have to be perfect; they need to be good enough to show us where the problems are, and good enough to make sound decisions.”

Neil highlighted the work that AstraZeneca has done to embed carbon measurement into clinical trials, with the hope of enabling academic and industry trials to reach Net Zero by 2030.

Michael spoke about the need for members to play a key role in developing a sustainability framework and the obstacles that come with a global supply chain. He asked if sustainability metrics could be worked into procurement requirements for medicines in the same way that quality metrics are. He did however caution the consequences of doing this and asked, “In the short term, can the NHS pay the higher prices for more sustainable medicines?”

From a clinical care perspective, Alex highlighted that environmentally friendly care is an aspect of high-quality healthcare. He gave the example that well-managed asthma has a much lower carbon footprint than poorly managed asthma. “We need to make it as easy as possible for patients to make good environmental decisions e.g., schemes to encourage recycling of inhalers at pharmacies.”

Speaking from his own experience, Richard said, “It doesn’t all have to be long-term and costly, there are practical and easy solutions available now e.g., using sustainable fuels. DHL has a simple mantra – burn less and burn clean.”

Joris referred to points made earlier in the day about the need for the demand to come from the customer, in order for the industry to change its approach, “We need to move from a linear economy to a circular economy.”

The ‘Greenification of careers in industry’ panel focused on the importance of sustainability being embedded within organisations and accepted as an issue that we are responsible for.

The session was chaired by Andrew Croydon, Director of Education and Examination Policy & Partnership at the ABPI and featured: Chris Blackburn, Head of Corporate Social Responsibility, Impellam Group; Aalia Kazi, Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability Partner at Roche; Peter Collins Director, Global Health and Social Impact at Pfizer; and Perdita Cresser, Shared Value and Sustainability Manager at Chiesi.

Aalia highlighted that the industry needs to use the skills and talent it already has, saying, “Sustainability isn’t a new add-on for people to have to think about, it’s already embedded in many pharma roles, such as reducing consumption and waste.”

Perdita agreed and said, “You don’t necessarily need formal skills or training in sustainability to work in a sustainability role…there are transferrable skills between industries.

Illustrating this point, Chris said, “Sustainability is all about empowering people to believe that they can achieve things they didn’t think were possible.” He then added, “The challenge is how to invest in future skills for the environment when we are already facing a skills gap in the UK.”

The conversation also touched on the importance of education. The panel discussed the idea that organisations have a responsibility to go into schools and educate both teachers and students on the routes and roles into the pharma industry and to put the climate crisis on the curriculum. Andrew said, “We need to make people aware that there are multiple routes into the industry”. Peter captured the essence of the discussion asking the audience “To meet Net Zero commitments – do you know what your part of the story is?”

“A heartfelt thank you to all our sponsors, speakers and attendees for their invaluable contributions that made this event possible. Your support and collaboration are truly appreciated. The engaged audience from industry experts and policy leaders underscored the potential to drive meaningful change towards a sustainable pharmaceutical industry. We hope the discussions today have sparked new ideas and we look forward to continuing the conversations and accelerating action as we work together to build a more sustainable future.“

Overall, the event emphasised the need for immediate and transformative action to reduce the environmental impact of the pharmaceutical and healthcare sectors.