Sustainability firmly embedded

We believe that we can harness science and technology to help tackle many global challenges such as climate change, resource scarcity and unequal access to health. Always guided by a robust set of values, we approach all our actions and decisions with a sense of responsibility. Sustainability has been vital to us for many generations.

We can only ensure our own future success by creating lasting added value for society through our core business. As a sustainable enterprise, we seek to balance environmental, social and governance aspects – for us as a business, for our stakeholders and for society at large.

For a global science and technology company like us, sustainability is an essential component of our Group strategy. Through our business activities, we want to be economically successful and create value for society. At the same time, we endeavor to avoid generating subsequent costs
for society.

Clear goals

We want to create long-term added value for society, which is why we have defined three goals within our sustainability strategy:

  • In 2030, we will achieve human progress for more than one billion people through sustainable science and technology.  
  • By 2030, we will fully integrate sustainability into all our value chains.
  • By 2040, we will achieve climate neutrality and reduce our resource consumption.    

Overall, our sustainability strategy is centered on seven focus areas, within which we realize and will continue to realize numerous initiatives and projects. We measure our progress using 16 sustainability key indicators.

 

Our Sustainability key indicators

Strategic Goal   Value chain    Sustainability key indicator   2024    2023   More information
1   Own operations   Percentage of newly published patent families with positive sustainability impact   34   29  
1   Downstream   Number of people treated with our Healthcare products (in million)   184   177   S4
1   Downstream   Number of people treated with pharmaceutical products enabled by our Life Science business sector (in million)   424   310  
2   Own operations   Result of the Employee Engagement Survey on sustainability culture   not published   not published   G1
2   Own operations   Percentage of women in leadership positions   39   39   S1
2   Own operations   Environment, health and safety (EHS) incident rate   2.2   2.4   S1
2   Own operations   Lost time injury rate (LTIR)   1.2   1.3   S1
    Upstream   Percentage of relevant suppliers (in terms of number) that are covered by a valid sustainability assessment   75   66   S2
2   Upstream   Percentage of relevant suppliers (in terms of spend) that are covered by a valid sustainability assessment   94   94   S2
2   Own operations   Violations of Global Social and Labor Standards Policy   57   60   S1
3   Own operations   Greenhouse gas emissions Scope 1 and 2 (in metric tons)   1,085,124   1,463,000   E1
3   Upstream; downstream   Indirect greenhouse gas emissions (Scope 3 intensity: metric tons CO2eq per € million gross profit)   359   371   E1
3   Upstream   Percentage of purchased electricity from renewable sources   52   51   E1
3   Own operations   Circularity rate (in %)   69.2   67.8   E5
3   Own operations   Water efficiency (m3 per € million net sales)   588   576   E3

Our Sustainability key indicators

Strategic Goal   Value chain    Sustainability key indicator   2024    2023   More information
1   Own operations   Percentage of newly published patent families with positive sustainability impact   34   29  
1   Downstream   Number of people treated with our Healthcare products (in million)1   184   177   S4
1   Downstream   Number of people treated with pharmaceutical products enabled by our Life Science business sector (in million)1   424   310  
2   Own operations   Result of the Employee Engagement Survey on sustainability culture   not published   not published   G1
2   Own operations   Percentage of women in leadership positions   39   39   S1
2   Own operations   Environment, health and safety (EHS) incident rate   2.2   2.4   S1
2   Own operations   Lost time injury rate (LTIR)   1.2   1.3   S1
    Upstream   Percentage of relevant suppliers (in terms of number) that are covered by a valid sustainability assessment1   75   66   S2
2   Upstream   Percentage of relevant suppliers (in terms of spend) that are covered by a valid sustainability assessment1   94   94   S2
2   Own operations   Violations of Global Social and Labor Standards Policy   57   60   S1
3   Own operations   Greenhouse gas emissions Scope 1 and 2 (in metric tons)1   1,085,124   1,463,000   E1
3   Upstream; downstream   Indirect greenhouse gas emissions (Scope 3 intensity: metric tons CO2eq per € million gross profit)   359   371   E1
3   Upstream   Percentage of purchased electricity from renewable sources   52   51   E1
3   Own operations   Circularity rate (in %)   69.2   67.8   E5
3   Own operations   Water efficiency (m3 per € million net sales)   588   576   E3
Three goals, seven focus areas

Doing our part to achieve the SDGs

In working towards these goals, we are helping reach the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The SDGs are a blueprint of how to achieve a sustainable future and are apart of the United Nation 2030 Agenda - a global plan to promote sustainable peace and prosperity and to protect our planet. To achieve this ambitious vision we all must work together. And we are all called upon to make our best possible contribution.

Out of 17 SDGs in total, we contribute the most to the following seven SDGs with our business and our behavior:

  • SDG 3: Health and well-being
  • SDG 5: Gender equality
  • SDG 8: Decent work and economic growth
  • SDG 9: Industry, innovation and infrastructure
  • SDG 12: Responsible consumption and production
  • SDG 13: Climate action
  • SDG 17: Partnerships for the goals

In addition, our management approaches and projects also support SDG 4 (Quality Education), SDG 6 (Clean water and sanitation) and SDG 7 (Affordable and clean energy)

How we contribute to the SDGs

External Advice on Sustainability

The Sustainability Advisory Panel advises us with external expertise on selected issues and contributes best-practice experience from other areas. To this end, we engage independent, internationally recognized experts on sustainability-related topics. They contribute their knowledge of social and political trends as well as ideas that could have strategic relevance for our business.