{"id":37642,"date":"2024-11-13T13:31:00","date_gmt":"2024-11-13T21:31:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mygreenlab.org\/?p=37642"},"modified":"2025-08-04T17:08:55","modified_gmt":"2025-08-05T00:08:55","slug":"the-carbon-impact-of-biotech-and-pharma-crossing-the-tipping-point-of-industry-transformation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mygreenlab.org\/the-beaker-blog\/the-carbon-impact-of-biotech-and-pharma-crossing-the-tipping-point-of-industry-transformation\/","title":{"rendered":"The Carbon Impact of Biotech and Pharma: Crossing the Tipping Point of Industry Transformation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n \n \n \t \"carbon<\/picture>\n \n <\/sc-image>\n<\/sc-container>\n\n\n\n \n \n

My Green Lab\u2019s 2024 report reveals growing climate commitments from the biotech and pharma sectors while underscoring the urgency of accelerating Scope 3 emissions reductions.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n <\/sc-rich-text> \n \n Download the 2024 Report\n <\/sc-button>\n <\/sc-rich-text>\n <\/sc-container>\n\n\n\n \n \n

The biotech and pharma industry plays a pivotal role in advancing global health, but as a significant contributor to climate change, its environmental footprint cannot be ignored.\u00a0My Green Lab\u2019s 2024 Carbon Impact of Biotech & Pharma Report<\/strong>\u00a0highlights progress while calling for deeper systemic changes as the industry approaches a pivotal moment in its sustainability journey. As climate goals become more urgent, biotech and pharma companies are uniquely positioned to drive by decarbonizing their supply chains and aligning with global climate targets.<\/p>\n

The report, produced by My Green Lab with contribution from Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), indicates that the industry has reached a tipping point \u2014 with over 25% of companies setting medium-term Scope 1 and 2 targets aligned with a 1.5\u00b0C pathway. Released during COP 29 in November 2024, the study highlights notable successes, including more companies than ever before adopting the UN Race to Zero. Additionally, a majority of companies in the campaign have made progress on the\u00a0Breakthrough Outcome<\/a>\u00a0by adopting My Green Lab Certification, with nearly three-quarters of those programs operating on a global scale.<\/p>\n

Despite significant progress, the report finds that long-term progress hinges on targets expanding to include Scope 3, the indirect emissions from upstream and downstream a company\u2019s value chain. Expanding these targets to include the hard to measure and reduce Scope 3 emissions are essential to ensure alignment across the industry and supply chain to a 1.5\u00b0C trajectory<\/p>\n

This year’s report builds on previous reports starting in 2021 which were the first to assess the entire biotech and pharma value chain by quantifying Scope 3 emissions. This year\u2019s report, which leverages data from 638 publicly listed companies and 290 privately held companies, tracks emissions since 2015, offering the comprehensive overview of the industry’s carbon footprint and its alignment with the Paris Climate Agreement.<\/p>\n

Key Findings and Industry Progress<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Emissions Challenges and Commitments<\/strong><\/p>\n

The 2024 report highlights both significant progress and challenges in emissions reduction across the biotech and pharma sectors. Among the 149 biotech and pharma companies with high-quality emissions data, 31% have set medium-term Scope 1 and 2 targets (2026\u20132035) that are aligned with a 1.5\u00b0C pathway. However, to fully meet climate goals, it is critical for companies to expand these targets to include Scope 3 emissions, which cover indirect emissions throughout the value chain.<\/p>\n

The report also reveals a concerning emissions footprint across the industry. Total emissions from public companies amounted to 259 million tCO\u2082e, while private companies accounted for 138 million tCO\u2082e, bringing the total to 397 million tCO\u2082e in 2023. Scope 3 emissions, which encompass indirect emissions from purchased goods and services, are a major challenge. These emissions are significantly higher than Scope 1 and 2, being 5.4 times greater for public companies and 6.5 times greater for private companies.<\/p>\n

Industry Progress and Initiatives<\/strong><\/p>\n

The growing commitment to the UN Race to Zero Campaign is a positive indication of progress. The study found that leading companies are accelerating their sustainability commitments, with 36 companies\u2014representing 56% of the sector\u2019s revenue\u2014joining the UN\u2019s Race to Zero campaign, up from 28 companies (46% by revenue) in the previous year. The campaign\u2019s Breakthrough Outcome target is also within reach, with 61% beginning My Green Lab Certification programs, 73% of which are operating at a global scale.<\/p>\n\n <\/sc-rich-text>\n <\/sc-container>\n\n\n\n\n\n \n \n \t \"\"<\/picture>\n \n Sector Progress to Race to Zero and Breakthrough Outcome\n <\/sc-rich-text>\n <\/sc-image>\n<\/sc-container>\n\n\n\n \n \n

As the report highlights, Scope 3 emissions make up 79% of indirect emissions, underscoring the critical role of supply chain innovation in achieving climate goals. In response, the industry has launched a suite of collective supply chain initiatives aimed at addressing Scope 3 emissions, which have shown significant progress over the past year. Programs such as\u00a0Converge<\/strong><\/a>,\u00a0Activate<\/strong>, and\u00a0Energize<\/strong>\u00a0are driving decarbonization by engaging suppliers to adopt renewable energy, improve operational efficiency, and pursue sustainable lab practices.<\/p>\n\n <\/sc-rich-text>\n <\/sc-container>\n\n\n\n\n\n \n \n \t \"chart<\/picture>\n \n Target Setting My Green Lab Supplier Initiative Converge\n <\/sc-rich-text>\n <\/sc-image>\n<\/sc-container>\n\n\n\n \n \n

Why Download the 2024 Report?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The 2024 report offers a strategic guide for biotech and pharma companies to align with a 1.5\u00b0C future. It highlights key challenges, celebrates progress, and outlines actionable solutions for reducing emissions across the value chain. Whether you’re a scientist, lab manager, policymaker, or executive, this report provides essential insights to drive sustainable science.<\/p>\n\n <\/sc-rich-text> \n \n Download the full 2024 carbon impact of biotech & pharma report today\n <\/sc-button>\n <\/sc-rich-text>\n <\/sc-container>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"The Carbon Impact of Biotech and Pharma: Crossing the Tipping Point of Industry Transformation","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":""},"category":[115],"topics":[108],"programs":[98,99],"lab_types":[106],"class_list":["post-37642","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","topics-carbon","programs-act-ecolabel","programs-my-green-lab-certification","lab_types-biotech-pharma"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mygreenlab.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37642","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mygreenlab.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mygreenlab.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mygreenlab.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mygreenlab.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37642"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/mygreenlab.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37642\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":57544,"href":"https:\/\/mygreenlab.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37642\/revisions\/57544"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mygreenlab.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37642"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mygreenlab.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/category?post=37642"},{"taxonomy":"topics","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mygreenlab.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topics?post=37642"},{"taxonomy":"programs","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mygreenlab.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/programs?post=37642"},{"taxonomy":"lab_types","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mygreenlab.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/lab_types?post=37642"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}