Our ESG strategy: 2022 Report
Last year we announced new goals for our environmental sustainability strategy. We have set bold yet critical targets to reach by the end of the decade to help protect our communities and planet. How are we doing?
Lilly's greatest contribution to society is the discovery and development of innovative medicines that make life better for people around the world. Our impact extends to how we operate our business, care for the environment and strengthen communities. Our Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) strategy and efforts are guided by our values and purpose. So how are we doing?
Positive impact on the planet
When announcing our solar panel farm in Kinsale, Ireland in 2021, we emphasised our step-by-step approach: there are many pieces to the puzzle of reducing our environmental impact. Like Kinsale, our manufacturing facilities in Fegersheim, France, Sesto, Italy, and Alcobendas, Spain also have solar farms of 62 kW, 145 kW, and 390 kW respectively. Together, they help drive our commitment to securing 100% of our purchased electricity from renewable sources.
We strive to be carbon neutral by 2030. How will we achieve this? Our solar farms help reduce our absolute emissions, which, between 2012 and 2020, dropped by 26%. In 2021, we reduced our energy consumption by 2.9%, and we reduced our absolute greenhouse gas emissions by 9% compared to 2020. These improvements were made while production volume actually increased.
At the end of 2021, 9.6% of our purchased electricity came from renewable sources. A large portion of this renewable electricity is delivered through our utility providers to our sites in Alcobendas, Spain; Kinsale, Ireland; and Bracknell, UK.
We also recently announced that we are now part of RE100[1] - the global corporate renewable energy initiative bringing together hundreds of large and ambitious businesses committed to 100% renewable electricity. We are proud that our efforts are being recognised alongside such ambitious businesses.
We want to continuously improve and do better – and data is crucial to ensure that we track our progress closely. We have been working to enhance the tracking and reporting of our full Scope 3 (value-chain) emissions. The work is expected to be complete in mid-2022. These data will also be used to inform our supply chain engagement strategy related to climate change.
Positive impact on people and society
In striving to make life better for people around the world, our activities to reduce our impact on the planet run alongside those to create a positive impact on people and society.
This starts with our 35,000 employees whose diversity helps us deliver scientific breakthroughs. From our diversity-driven talent acquisition approach, to employee resource groups which offer unique insights and perspectives to improve our business – we have put in place structures to support and engage people of all backgrounds.
Beyond our employees, we are committed to having a positive social impact. For example, diversity of clinical trial participants is critical to developing safe and effective medicines for everyone.
Our prognosis
We are all acutely aware of the diagnosis: the health and wellbeing of people and the planet are interdependent, and the window of opportunity is closing to mitigate further climate change. Lilly’s annual ESG Report is an important moment for us to identify the impact of the solutions which we have put in place to ensure that we are contributing to progress.
We are proud to announce these achievements. The bar has been set high for the coming 12 months – we are up for the challenge!
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