AstraZeneca Responsibility

Researchers examine local fish food sources

As we continue to work to manage our environmental impact, we are increasingly participating in the global debate on what business can do to help mitigate global warming and adapt to the unavoidable consequences of climate change.

We believe that our primary responsibility is to reduce our carbon footprint by, amongst other things, improving our energy efficiency and pursuing lower-carbon alternatives to fossil fuels. The use of carbon offset or other third party reduction credits to address residual emissions is not something we will consider as an alternative to driving our own efforts to reduce emissions.

Our carbon footprint is also affected by some of our respiratory therapies, specifically our pressurised metered dose inhalers that rely on propellants such as hydrofluoroalkanes (HFAs) to deliver the medicine to a patient’s airways. Whilst HFAs have no ozone depletion potential and a third or less of the global warming potential than the CFCs they replace, they are still greenhouse gases - but we believe that the potential benefits that these therapies offer patients outweigh the potential impact on the environment.

We recognise that climate change is not just an environmental challenge, but also one that affects the health and livelihood of millions of people because of the links to complex issues such as poverty, economic development and population growth. We believe that the most effective response to the challenges associated with climate change can only be achieved through a united global effort that takes account of the wider context of sustainable development. This includes aspects such as material efficiency; reducing travel and transport; supply chain accountability; availability of safe, clean water; healthcare innovation; and infrastructure improvement.

Our business is fighting disease and some of our work relates to the emerging health needs. For example, our focus on further developing our respiratory therapy product portfolio for the effective treatment of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; the resource we have committed to the discovery and development of new, improved treatments for tuberculosis; and our collaborations with non-governmental organisations and other partners to help vulnerable communities in the developing world to strengthen their local healthcare capabilities.

This section provides more detail about the issues presented by climate change, our approach to managing these and our performance to date.

Our current set of 5-year targets and objectives takes us to the end of 2010. We are in the process of finalising a new environmental sustainability strategy, including associated targets and objectives which drive our continued commitment in this important area.