The need for bold, multi-sector collaboration to protect our planet and health is clear. Here’s how the healthcare sector can contribute.
Climate change impacts more than just our planet — it impacts our lives, our communities and our health. In fact, it’s considered the single biggest health threat facing humanity by the World Health Organization, and it is estimated that by 2050 an additional 250,000 people will die annually due to climate-related causes.
The most recent United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report stressed the urgent action needed to ensure the planet continues to be livable. According to the IPCC, the ripple effect on human health is significant and growing. Increased temperatures create a more hospitable environment for vector borne diseases, such as dengue; severe flooding can result in cholera outbreaks; extreme heat, floods, fires and other climate-related disruptions threaten already unstable areas, forcing more people to leave their homes — and leaving them more vulnerable to physical and mental challenges. And these are just a few examples of the effects already underway.
We need to act — and we need to act fast. But what can we do?
Multi-Sector Responsibility
We all must act responsibly to lessen the effects of climate change, but the window is closing. The healthcare sector accounts for four to five percent of global Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions, making it the fifth largest contributor in the world. Core to our business at Pfizer, we believe biopharmaceutical companies like us have a responsibility to help protect global health and ultimately the health of our planet.
As part of Pfizer’s reporting, we proudly shared that we have successfully reduced our company GHG emissions (Scope 1 & 2) by more than 60 percent since 2000. While this is important progress, we are committed to doing even more as a company and with our partners and peers to drive a bigger impact.
Our value chain — which includes a plethora of suppliers that provide materials, goods and services for our medicines and vaccines — accounts for roughly 80 percent of our GHG emissions. Known as Scope 3 emissions, these indirect emissions come from purchased materials and services that allow us to discover, develop, and bring to market medicines and vaccines.
About one-third (29 percent) of our suppliers have developed or committed to developing GHG emissions reduction targets. We’re now working to accelerate change across our supply chain, aiming to have 64 percent of our suppliers by spend set science-based GHG emissions reduction goals by 2025. We are also responsibly managing our environmental footprint by assessing suppliers’ environmental, health and safety performance, such as handling of waste, wastewater and air emissions.
Ambitious Goals
Given the proportion of our Scope 3 emissions — the indirect emissions from our value chain — and the need for all sectors of society to rapidly decrease global GHG emissions, we recognize the need for collective action to achieve more ambitious goals. That’s why last year, Pfizer announced our goal to achieve the Net-Zero Standard by 2040.
To reach this goal, our company emissions need to be reduced 95 percent from 2019 levels by 2040. We will also need to reduce our Scope 3 emissions from our value chain by 90 percent compared to our 2019 baseline.
Accomplishing the Net-Zero Standard for Pfizer will require significant actions to transition away from fossil fuels — including (but not limited to) accelerating efficiency efforts, replacing fossil fuel powered utilities across our global site network, and transitioning our sales fleet to electric vehicles.
The reality is that to help avoid the worst effects of climate change, all companies should aim to reach Net Zero goals. By doing so, we can hopefully mitigate the global temperature rise before the worst environmental damage occurs.
Rising to the Equity Challenge
Communities that have been historically under-resourced and under-represented are bearing the highest burden from climate change, making climate change an equity issue in addition to a public health issue.
Therefore, this Earth Day, we reaffirm our commitment to climate action and to meeting patients’ evolving health needs as the world around us changes. This means reducing GHG emissions, as well as using our scientific and manufacturing expertise to develop and deliver breakthrough medicines and vaccines to change patients’ lives and support more equitable healthcare access. Whether through our investments in building stronger health systems through The Pfizer Foundation,* donating medicines for neglected tropical diseases, or working with governments in lower-income countries through ‘An Accord for a Healthier World’ to help meet their needs, we’re committed to positively impacting the environment and global health.
Action is needed today from stakeholders across all sectors to address the realities of climate change. We hope that by sharing our goals and progress we can help catalyze others, including those in our own supply chain, to join us in this collective work. It is important that we all take bold actions now to help protect our environment and our health — before it is too late.
*The Pfizer Foundation is a charitable organization established by Pfizer Inc. It is a separate legal entity from Pfizer Inc. with distinct legal restrictions.