Partnerships, alliances and recognition
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Science can build a sustainable future for people, society and the planet
Creating sustainable healthcare and a sustainable planet for all requires collaboration at scale and pace. No organisation, government, or institution can do it alone. As we have seen throughout the pandemic, public-private partnerships can deliver innovation worldwide, at speed and at scale.
As a global business we have a responsibility to lead and we are committed to using our capabilities and commitments to help tackle some of society’s greatest challenges – be that climate change, access to healthcare or health equity. We work closely with a range of organisations, institutions and through alliances to build private and public sector collaboration and initiate new programmes to achieve shared goals.
Partnership for Health System Sustainability and Resilience
The Partnership for Health System Sustainability and Resilience (PHSSR) is an ambitious global-level partnership that we lead in collaboration with the World Economic Forum (WEF), the London School of Economics (LSE), and others, with the aim of delivering practical solutions to make health systems more resilient and sustainable. The initiative was motivated by a shared commitment to improving population health, through and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic. Since launch in 2020, the partnership has continued its work to strengthen global health systems and act as the driver for policy improvements in the more than 30 countries where it is now active. During 2022, the partnership’s in-depth health system research progressed in 13 new Phase 2 countries, and main findings were presented at the PHSSR Global Summit in November 2022, covering key themes from workforce and health service delivery, finance and governance, to the role of technology in strengthening health systems. These latest findings highlight the importance of prioritising prevention and early intervention in NCDs, as well as climate change, to strengthen the resilience and sustainability of health systems.
Sustainable Markets Initiative and Terra Carta
We are a founding member of the Sustainable Markets Initiative (SMI) and early supporter of the Terra Carta.
Through the Sustainable Markets Initiative Health Systems Task Force, convened by AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot, we are partnering across the healthcare sector to accelerate the delivery of net-zero health systems, including through decarbonising supply chains and patient care pathways. At COP27 in Egypt, we launched sector-first commitments and actions to decarbonise supply chains, patient care pathways and leverage digital innovation.
The Terra Carta offers the basis of a recovery plan that puts Nature, People and Planet at the heart of global value creation. At COP26 in Glasgow, we were awarded the inaugural Terra Carta Seal by His Majesty King Charles III, in his former role as His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales, for our commitment to and innovation in sustainability.
World Economic Forum strategic partner
We are a strategic partner of the World Economic Forum (WEF). Pascal Soriot, our Chief Executive Officer, is a member of WEF’s Alliance of CEO Climate Leaders, which advocates for ambitious action on climate change.
Our AZ Forest initiative supports the World Economic Forum’s 1T.org, ‘The Champions for a Trillion Trees’ platform. We are members of the 1T.org Corporate Alliance committed to helping conserve, restore and grow one trillion trees by 2030.
In 2021, we joined WEF’s Partnering for Racial Justice in Business coalition as a founding partner. This is an initiative focused on setting new global standards for racial equity in business. In line with our commitments in this space, we report annually to our Board on company culture and we have developed a comprehensive plan to address racial equity across the full breadth of our talent pipeline (from attraction through to development and retention of ethnic minority talent), together with advancing societal change, including in the design of and enrolment into our clinical trials.
World Wide Fund for Nature
In April 2020, we announced a new collaboration with the World Wide Fund for Nature Sweden. The partnership focuses on identifying opportunities to improve our approach and strategy towards water stewardship and identify initial opportunities to engage in on-the-ground water projects in the river basins where we operate. Read our case study with WWF on diagnosing water risks for the pharmaceutical sector here.
Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership
As part of our support for The Prince of Wales Global Sustainability Fellowship Programme, we partnered with the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL) to launch a new research project which aims to explore strategies to reduce outdoor air pollution in Uganda and promote healthy communities, through evidence-based policies and citizen science. We also partnered with CISL on the Dunga Beach project in Kenya, which enabled a community to switch from cooking with traditional fuels to using biogas, with two thirds of pilot project participants noting that their health had improved.
Circular Bioeconomy Alliance (CBA)
We are supporting the CBA to build a global network of Living Labs for Nature, People and Planet. We established a partnership with the CBA and local partners to create the first and largest ‘Living Lab’ in Ghana. This community-led project intends to plant 4.5 million trees by the end of 2025, with the aim of having over three million surviving trees, and establish circular business models for local communities.
Innovative Medicines Initiative
We are co-leading a new project with the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI), a public-private partnership in the life sciences, on the Prioritisation and Risk Evaluation of Medicines in the Environment (PREMIER). Launched in September 2020, PREMIER aims to deliver an innovative framework for characterising environmental risks of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), and builds on the success of the IMI Intelligent Assessment of Pharmaceuticals in the Environment (IPIE) project.
Alliances and recognition
Access to Medicine Index
In 2022, we were recognised among the top-three global pharmaceutical companies in the Access to Medicine Index (AtMI), a biennial report by the Access to Medicine Foundation evaluating the contributions of 20 pharmaceutical organisations to develop and make certain medicines, vaccines, and diagnostics more accessible for people in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). This is our highest AtMI ranking to date, reflecting our commitment to driving equitable access to sustainable, innovative healthcare for everyone.
CDP: A Lists for Climate Change and Water Security
We have achieved a double-A listing for seven consecutive years from the global environmental impact non-profit CDP. We are recognised for the actions we are taking to cut emissions, mitigate climate risks, engage our supply chain, and deliver on water stewardship.
Financial Times Europe’s Climate Leaders
In April 2023, we were listed as the top pharmaceutical company in the third edition of the Financial Times’ ‘Europe’s Climate Leaders’ list and ranked 32nd out of the 500 companies included overall. The Climate Leaders list is compiled by the Financial Times in partnership with Statista and provides a ranking of companies across Europe that considers reductions in greenhouse gas emissions intensity between 2016 and 2021 and transparency around scope 3 emissions.
Race To Zero
We were an early supporter of the United Nations-backed Race To Zero, a global campaign bringing together businesses, cities, investors and wider stakeholders to deliver a healthy, resilient, zero carbon recovery that prevents future threats, creates decent jobs, and unlocks inclusive, sustainable growth.
RE100, EV100 & EP100
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 EVs in our road fleet (EV100).
Science Based Targets initiative
Our emission reduction targets have been verified by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) and we were one of the first seven companies worldwide to have our net zero, science-based Scope 1-3 targets verified under their new Net-Zero Corporate Standard.
S&P Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI)
In 2022, we were again included in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) World and Europe indices. DJSI is the longest standing, global sustainability benchmark system.
State of Children’s Rights and Business Benchmark Report
In November 2021, we were announced as a leader, with a score of 7.7, in the State of Children's Rights and Business Benchmark Report. In collaboration with Boston Consulting Group, The Global Child Forum assess how companies implement children’s rights, and sustainability governance using publicly available data.
Universal Health Coverage 2030 (UHC2030)
We are a member of the UHC2030, dedicated to accelerating progress towards Universal Health Coverage through strengthening health systems.
