The healthcare sector, while focused on improving human health, is a contributor to environmental impacts. For example, the sector is responsible for around 5% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, accentuating the industry’s impact on the natural environment. While the continuing advancement of medical technology has contributed to the extension of global life expectancy from 46.5 years in 1950 to 71.2 years in 2023, the process involved in developing, manufacturing and delivering medicines also contributes to climate change and nature loss.
WBCSD’s Roadmap to Nature Positive: Foundations for the pharmaceutical sector provides a structured approach to assessing their nature-related impacts across the value chain, from raw material sourcing and supply chain management to product end-of-life considerations and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits from the use of genetic resources. The actions outlined in the Roadmap can be tailored to each company’s business model and materiality, ensuring targeted and effective implementation. The top five priority actions include:
- Reduce water use
- Reduce pollution risk from Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients
- Avoid and reduce the release of GHG emissions across the entire value chain
- Source responsibly, improve supply chain traceability and transparency, and accelerate the use of alternative lower impact materials
- Reduce solid waste across the value chain
The Roadmap was developed in partnership with GSK, with extensive engagement from project member companies in the pharmaceutical sector, including partner organizations.
In the next phase of this work we will focus on linking the actions identified in the Roadmap to a set of prioritized nature-related metrics, which are essential for measurement, tracking, and disclosure. By simplifying the complexity of nature-related metrics, companies will be able to navigate evolving regulatory requirements with clarity and consistency.
About the Roadmaps to Nature Positive
WBCSD’s Roadmaps to Nature Positive provide step-by-step guidance for companies to accelerate credible nature-positive ambition, action and accountability. The Roadmaps provide in-depth analysis and guidance relevant for all businesses, as well as specific guidance for the pharmaceutical sector and four high-impact systems: land use (specifically, the agri-food system and the forest products sector), built environment system and energy system. Read more about WBCSD’s Roadmaps to Nature Positive.
