In addition to healthy people, a healthy society and a healthy planet are necessary for a healthier future
AstraZeneca employees strive to contribute in all these fields. In addition to our daily commitment to making innovative medicines available to as many people around the world as possible, we strive to help the community in which we operate and live in every way possible.
We aspire to have a healthy future and to be active participants in a healthy society, planet, and business. AstraZeneca has built a sustainability strategy around three basic principles, which put health at the heart of our work, access to health care, environmental protection and ethics, and transparency.
We at AstraZeneca also control our impact on the environment, which is important for the prevention of some diseases and the improvement of outcomes for patients. AstraZeneca’s ambition is to become “Carbon Neutral” by 2025 and “Carbon Negative” by 2030 through various initiatives including 100% electric fleet, travel reduction of at least 20%, involvement of third parties (suppliers) to reduce emissions CO2.
We must not forget the importance of ethics and transparency in the company’s business. Our company aims to create a positive impact on society and promote ethical behaviour in all countries in which we operate. Areas we focus on are ethical business culture, diversity, and inclusion, human rights, employee well-being, working with third parties that have the same ethical standards as AstraZeneca.
We give special importance to a culture that is based on the values of the company: We do the right thing and We put Patients first.
“We actively promote disease prevention in the community and support our patients, regardless of the obstacles they may face”
At AstraZeneca, we create an environment that encourages innovation and diversity of opinion, as well as psychological security, openness, and acceptance.
In terms of social responsibility activities, over 8,000 employees participated in Europe. AstraZeneca has thus helped more than 2,000,000 patients, planted over 17,000 trees, spent more than 9,000 hours volunteering and avoiding the purchase of more than 600,000 plastic bottles.
And that the community appreciates and values that commitment, we have confirmed through recognitions. In 2020, Corporate Knights ranked AstraZeneca highly in terms of sustainable development in competition with 7,000 companies, AstraZeneca was 56th in the overall ranking, and second in the group of biopharmaceutical companies.
We are very proud to see AstraZeneca’s inclusion in Financial Times Europe’s Climate Leaders 2021 list as one of the most progressive companies in tackling climate change. The report highlights that we had the second-highest total reduction in core emissions in the FTSE 10 between 2014- 2019.
Our inclusion reflects the progress made to date in cutting our greenhouse gas emissions thanks to the efforts of colleagues in Europe around the world – bringing forward decarbonization plans by more than a decade through our Ambition Zero Carbon strategy. We were also one of the early supporters of the UN-backed Race to Zero, which mobilizes businesses, investors, regions, and cities behind commitments to zero emissions before the mid-century with a focus on reducing emissions rather than offsets.
Sustainability is key to our Growth Through Innovation strategy and core to our values of Following the science and Doing the right thing.
The sustainability initiatives that we have provided in Serbia in the previous year are EACH FOR EQUAL, GOGREEN, AZ FOREST, YOUNG HEALTH PROGRAMME, RACE FOR CURE, EARTH DAY.
SMART BENCH FOR HOSPITAL CENTERS is the newest initiative that confirms our value “We put patients first”. It’s a simple solution that can make a huge difference in patient convenience around hospitals. Smart Bench is chosen because it connects the digital and physical world through free wi-fi, phone charging, and an informative digital portal and it helps to create a better outdoor experience in the hospital centres for caregivers, patients, and their families. We are so proud to be a part of this project.