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Ambition Zero Carbon
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What is Ambition Zero Carbon?
We are taking bold action on climate across our value chain because we recognise the connection between healthy people and a healthy planet.
Through our $1 billion Ambition Zero Carbon strategy and $400 million expansion to our AZ Forest programme we aim to:
- Achieve net zero by avoiding greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions through our product and facility design, optimising energy efficiency, shifting to renewable energy sources, transitioning to a battery electric vehicle (BEV) fleet, and investing in nature-based removals to compensate for any residual GHG footprint
- Build resilience by managing the physical (sites, supply chain) and transitional (regulatory, technological, market and reputational) risks and opportunities arising from climate change and in a low-carbon economy, through adaptation and business continuity planning
Our science-based approach
With Ambition Zero Carbon, we are pursuing ambitious science-based decarbonisation targets, accelerating our progress towards net zero and managing the risks and opportunities presented by climate change:
- We follow the science to understand the climate and health nexus and set our targets
- We follow a hierarchy to address each emission source (eliminate-reduce-substitute)
- We recognise the importance of our supply chain and suppliers, whom we engage with, educate, support and incentivise to act
- We partner with our sector peers, including at a high-level through the SMI Health Systems Task Force and in addressing key emissions sources through the Energize and Activate collaborations
- We are transparent about our performance, methodologies, transition plan and assessment of climate-related risks and opportunities presented by a low-carbon economy and net-zero healthcare
- We have nature-based and technical measures in place to identify and address physical climate risks at site level and in local business continuity planning
- We focus on delivering absolute reductions in all our direct and indirect GHG emissions sources across the value chain – Scopes 1, 2 and 3
We support the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) framework, which applies a risk-based approach, focusing on the most material physical and transitional risks and opportunities. We will build resilience across the value chain through adaptation and business continuity planning. For more details see our TCFD Report.
Our science-based targets
Through Ambition Zero Carbon, we are on track to reduce GHG emissions from our global operations (Scope 1 and 2) by 98% by 2026 from a 2015 baseline. We were one of the first seven companies to have our net-zero Scope 1-3 targets verified under the Science-Based Targets Initiative's Net-Zero Corporate Standard.
We were the first pharmaceutical company to sign up to all three of the following Climate Group initiatives: by the end of 2025 we will reduce absolute energy use and double energy productivity compared with 2015 (EP100); we will use 100% renewable energy for electricity (RE100) and heat; and we will maximise our transition to Battery Electric Vehicles in our road fleet (EV100).
We aim to halve our entire value chain footprint by 2030, on the way to a 90% reduction by 2045 from a 2019 baseline. By 2030 we will become carbon negative for all residual emissions.
We are engaging across our entire value chain to measure and reduce our Scope 3 emissions. We have set the goal that by the end of 2025, 95% of our spend in Scope 3 Categories 1 (purchased goods and services) and 2 (capital goods), and 50% of our spend in Scope 3 categories 4 (upstream transportation) and 6 (business travel) will be with companies that have science-based targets (SBTs).
We will launch a next-generation respiratory inhaler containing a near-zero Global Warming Potential propellant by 2025.
To drive our climate action initiatives and meet our environmental targets, we have a dedicated Natural Resource Efficiency Fund (NREF), which has invested approximately $175 million in environmental efficiency projects since 2015. This, together with other central capital investments, has seen a further $36.6 million spent in 2023, including 72 new projects.