Greenhouse gas reduction

Renewable energy

In 2020, 89% of our electricity use was from renewable sources, significantly accelerating progress against our 2025 RE100 commitment. This was achieved through increasing renewable imported electricity to 99.9%¹ and utilising 5.3GWh of on-site solar PV. The remaining 11% of power use was delivered by on-site combined heat and power (CHP) systems that use fossil gas. Decarbonising this source of electricity requires renewable fuels and these are under assessment as part of our emerging clean heat strategy.

As part of this strategy, we are investigating solutions for our global heat demand, delivered mostly through on-site combustion of fossil gas in boilers or CHP plants. In 2020, we joined the Renewable Thermal Collaborative, the leading coalition for organisations committed to decarbonising the energy required for heat in buildings and industrial processes. 

In addition, we strengthened our commitments under the Climate Group's EP100 and EV100 initiatives: committing to double energy productivity and switch to 100% electric vehicles by the end of 2025.

Footnotes:

[1] 0.1% of imported electricity could not be matched to renewables due to the lack of credible energy attribute certificate systems in two site locations: Argentina and Ukraine.

Mapping priority sites and countries

We prioritised creation of Ambition Zero Carbon roadmaps for our 10 key sites, which cover roughly 50% of our total Scope 1 and 2 emissions. Based on these outcomes, we have clean heat studies underway for our UK and US portfolios considering a broad range of solutions from green gas to electrification of heat. In addition, an electric vehicle (EV) readiness study has been conducted for all markets where we have a fleet presence. Countries that are 'EV ready' have been identified.  

Partnerships towards a carbon negative value chain

Our Ambition Zero Carbon goals are ambitious, but mitigation efforts will fail unless we partner with others to transform the global economy. In 2020, 4% of total procurement spend was with companies that have set, or committed to set, Science Based Targets (i.e. emissions goals aligned to the Paris Agreement).

Using our voice to influence

To make Ambition Zero Carbon a reality, we are using our voice to influence the conversation and encourage action. An example is our Gold sponsorship of Climate Week NYC 2020. During the opening ceremony of Climate Week, our CEO signed AstraZeneca onto the Race for Zero.

AZ Forest as a nature-based solution to climate change

Launched in 2020, AZ Forest is a global initiative to plant 50 million trees worldwide by the end of 2025. Trees naturally remove CO₂ and are essential to mitigate the effects of climate change. Reforestation also helps support disease prevention through cleaner air for communities and supports wellbeing with green space for public use. More than 337,000 trees have been planted in Indonesia and Australia. 

Recognition

We were ranked on the CDP Climate Change A list for the fifth consecutive year.