The sixth IBSA Sustainability Report: an integrated vision to take care of the future

In a complex and uncertain historical moment, when the need to transform declarations of intent into concrete facts is now established, the sixth IBSA Sustainability Report highlights how we can move from words to tangible actions to build a truly sustainable future.

Let’s rewind the tape of what we have done so far and find out the details of the new document.

With the fifth Sustainability Report, IBSA introduced the ESG@IBSA strategy, a plan that involves the entire organisation and extends to the whole Group. This strategy is divided into two essential principles (Governance and Culture) and four key areas (Environment, Society, Patients and Value Chain).

Today, the new Sustainability Report recounts the implementation of the Group’s strategy and objectives – as well as the progress made in each of the priority areas – and outlines, with even more incisiveness, the path to follow.

The report places particular emphasis on the concrete results and the initiatives implemented, thus showing a growing maturity in the management of ESG topics. In 2023, this maturity allowed us to define a common roadmap with quantitative and qualitative objectives, defined timescales and indexes to monitor performance.

PRINCIPLES, OBJECTIVES AND GLOBAL COHESION

Compared to the previous report, the new document highlights a greater involvement of all subsidiaries in the collection of data and information regarding environmental and social impacts. All Functions integrated sustainability principles and objectives into their daily activities, giving their active contribution to the progression of the projects that populate our strategy.

This represents a significant cultural change that pervades the entire organisation, starting from the company management, which assumed the responsibility of overseeing the implementation of the ESG strategy.

The change was partly stimulated by the evolution of the ESG legislation, with new requirements requested by the European Union and Switzerland relating to non-financial reporting, to the due diligence of the supply chain and to packaging. These requirements offered the opportunity to adapt internal processes and systems, work towards greater efficiency and fill the gaps in terms of skills, human resources and technology. In particular, IBSA strengthened its ability to identify, measure and monitor the risks and impacts of activities as a whole.

PROGRESS IS MEASURED BY ATTENTION TO THE PERSON

Progress has been notable in all areas: from the first approach to the inventory of scope 3 emissions to the strengthening of the activities related to the health, safety and well-being of collaborators; from the mapping of ESG risks in the supply chain to the initiatives for the benefit of patients and the communities where IBSA operates.

We live in an era of continuous change, in which the pharmaceutical sector faces unprecedented challenges that require new behaviours, innovative practices and an open mind-set for creating “humanised” solutions. Compared to the past, we are in an ecosystem where economic, social and environmental factors are closely intertwined and interdependent.

The generational transition, which many companies are going through, suggests seizing this moment as an opportunity to find development paths aimed not only at profit, but at the common good. This means taking care of people and the planet that hosts us, ensuring a sustainable future for all.