AstraZeneca

Sustainability strategy and accountability
AstraZeneca discloses its process for identifying and prioritising its most relevant sustainability impacts as well as the outcome of this process, in relation to its sustainability strategy. It has group-wide targets on key sustainability topics for the most material parts of its value chain and reports consistently against all its targets.

Stakeholder engagement
AstraZeneca discloses an overview of the issues raised during its stakeholder engagement activities. The company discloses how often and through which channels it engages with various stakeholder groups. The company discloses how its stakeholder engagement activities impact its sustainability strategy.

Water
AstraZeneca engages with suppliers to reduce water withdrawal. The company has targets to reduce water pollution and reports progress against them. The company has a commitment to respect the right to water. The company discloses its processes for implementing preventive and corrective action plans for identified specific risks to the right to water and sanitation in its own operations. The company requires access to water and sanitation, including refraining from negatively affecting access to safe water, to be included in contractual arrangements with its business relationships. The company works with its business relationships to improve their practices regarding access to water and sanitation.

Solid and air pollution
AstraZeneca reports some activities to reduce plastic use and waste in its own operations.

GHG emissions
AstraZeneca has reported a time bound target to reduce their absolute scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions by 98% by 2026 from 2015 base year and reports progress against the target. The company has reported a time-bound target to reduce absolute scope 3 GHG emissions to 50% by 2030 and 90% by 2045, from a 2019 base year. The company’s scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions targets are aligned with a 1.5-degree trajectory.

No leading practices were identified in the social inclusion and community impact area.

Sustainability strategy and accountability
The company provides evidence of evaluating ESG performance amongst other factors when deciding the remuneration of directors. It also discloses the ESG performance of a few directors. However, no explicit targets and objectives (which cover nature (including biodiversity), and social issues) about what the remuneration policies are linked to could be found. The company does not disclose whether its highest governance body has expertise regarding nature-related topics.

Lobbying
While the company discloses some trade associations of which it is a member, this is not a complete list covering all geographies. The company does not disclose a clear and detailed framework for assessing alignment of its trade associations with nature-positive policies. The company does not report (potential) misalignment between the lobbying activities of its trade associations and nature-positive policies.

Impact and dependencies assessment
The company does not disclose any assessment of its impacts on nature, including biodiversity, within its own operations. The company does not disclose any assessment of its impacts on nature, including biodiversity, in its supply chain. The company does not disclose any assessment of its dependencies on nature within its own operations. The company does not disclose any assessment of dependencies on nature of its upstream business relationships.

Key areas and species
The company does not disclose the locations that are in or adjacent to areas important for biodiversity within its own operations. The company does not disclose the locations of its suppliers that are in or adjacent to areas important for biodiversity. The company does not disclose species populations existing in or adjacent to its own locations. The company does not disclose species populations existing in or adjacent to the locations of its suppliers. The company does not disclose the status according to national and international conservation lists of species identified in its own locations.

Ecosystem conversion and restoration
The company does not disclose a commitment to ensure zero conversion. The company does not disclose activities to achieve conversion-free supply chains. The company does not disclose time-bound targets to achieve conversion-free supply chains. The company does not disclose a commitment to minimise ecosystem conversion. The company does not disclose activities to minimise ecosystem conversion. The company has reported their “reforestation commitment: AZ Forest” However, planting trees does not equate to a commitment to restore ecosystems. The company does not disclose details and outcomes of ecosystem restoration projects in areas affected by its own operations or by its suppliers.

Resource exploitation and circularity
The company does not disclose its inputs, including its material footprint. The company does not report quantitatively on its group-wide circularity performance. The company has reported partnering with Future Biogas to build a new renewable energy plant to generate biomethane as a substitute for natural gas. While it has further reported that the digestate by-product of the biomethane production process is a nutrient-rich fertiliser that can be used locally to enhance soil health and displace fossil fuel-based fertilisers, currently this disclosure does not translate into company improving soil health and/or increasing agrobiodiversity in its production and/or sourcing practices. The company does not disclose a target to improve soil health in its production or sourcing practices.

Water
The company has reported that in 2021, the water footprint was 3.82 million m3, a 17% reduction from 2015. However, it has reported a year on year increase in water usage (million m3) from 3.81 to 3.82 in 2021. The company has reported that it has a 2025 target to maintain absolute water use at 2015 baseline levels. However, this does not translate into a time-bound target for reduction in water withdrawal in its own operations. The company reports how much water is withdrawn for its own operations in water-stressed areas. The company reports a decrease in water pollution. The company discloses its processes for managing and monitoring discharge water quality. The company does not regularly report on water pollution.

Solid and air pollution
No evidence that the company reduces the production of hazardous substances was found. The company does not disclose a commitment to avoid developing or marketing new chemicals or products with SVHC (substance of very high concern) properties. The company is reducing the production of hazardous waste. The company is reducing plastic use and waste in its own operations. The company does not report on the amount of plastic waste generated and proportions directed from or to disposal. The company does not report on air quality parameters of emissions of harmful air pollutants. The company does not report time-bound targets to reduce air pollutants across the most material parts of its value chain.

GHG emissions
The company has reported a quantitative increase in its total scope 3 emissions (in tonnes CO2e) from 5,985,733 in 2020 to 6,581,749 in 2021. The company does not report progress against its scope 3 emissions target.

Invasive species
No evidence was found that the company identifies the activities that could lead to the introduction of invasive species in its own operations. No evidence was found that the company identifies the activities that could lead to the introduction of invasive species in its value chain.

Safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment
The company does not disclose a commitment to respecting local communities’ right to a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment. No evidence that the company tracks its actual or potential negative impacts on the health of local communities was found. The company is not committed to zero tolerance for acts of violence, threats, intimidation or judicial harassment committed against land and environmental rights defenders.

Indigenous Peoples’ and land rights
The company does not disclose a commitment to respect Indigenous Peoples’ rights. The company does not disclose its processes for identifying and recognising the rights of Indigenous Peoples when activities in its own operations may impact their rights, nor does it describe how it obtains Indigenous Peoples’ free, prior and informed consent. The company does not disclose a commitment to respect ownership and use of land and natural resources and related legitimate tenure rights, as set out in the relevant part(s) of the VGGTs or the IFC Performance Standards. No evidence was found that the company requires its business relationships to have a process to identify legitimate tenure rightsholders, paying particular attention to vulnerable or marginalised tenure rightsholders, and to negotiate with them to provide adequate compensation.

The company states that it commits to act with due diligence to avoid infringing on human rights and to address negative impacts. Also, it states that it conducts biannual human rights labour reviews, and an internal assessment of its human rights practices every two years, with focus on the International Labour Organisation’s core themes, however, it does not describe the process to identify its human rights risks and impacts in specific locations or activities covering its own operations. No evidence that the company describes its process for assessing its human rights risks and discloses what it considers to be its salient human rights issues was found. The company discloses the result of its third-party assessments of suppliers conducted in year 2021, however, there is no evidence that the company publicly discloses the results of its assessments, which may be aggregated across its operations and locations. The company states that it prevents and mitigates adverse human rights impact and if an incident occur it conducts a thorough investigative and corrective action process to prevent any future similar event and build capabilities, however, there is no evidence that the company discloses what it considers to be its salient human rights risks. Therefore, this cannot be counted as evidence that the company has a global system in place to act on, prevent or mitigate its salient human rights issues. No evidence that the company provides an example of the conclusions reached and actions taken or to be taken on at least one of its salient human rights issues as a result of assessment processes was found. While the company discloses the categories of stakeholders it engages with generally on sustainability issues, it is not clear if these stakeholders are those whose human rights have been or may be affected by its activities. No evidence that the company provides examples of its engagement with stakeholders whose human rights have been or may be affected by its activities was found.

The company has a publicly available policy statement which shows it is committed to respecting the health and safety of workers. The company has a publicly available policy statement which shows it expects its suppliers to commit to respecting the health and safety of their workers. The company discloses its commitment to abide by all applicable wage and benefits. Also, it states that it supports the principles set out in the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) standards on minimum wages. Additionally, it discloses its target for 2025 to assess its performance against local living wage data using Fair Wage Network, however, it is not clear if applicable wage is sufficient to maintain a decent standard of living for employees and their family. Also, there is no evidence that the company discloses a time-bound target for paying all workers a living wage or that it has achieved paying all workers a living wage. No evidence that the company describes how it determines a living wage for the regions where it operates was found. While the company states that it expects its suppliers to pay wages that are sufficient for workers and their families to fulfil their basic needs, it has an opportunity to disclose how it works to support the payment of a living wage by its suppliers. No evidence that the company discloses the proportion of its total direct operations workforce covered by collective bargaining agreements was found. While the company states that it expects its suppliers to respect employees’ right to freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining, it has an opportunity to describe how it works to support the practices of its suppliers in relation to those.

The company discloses a global tax strategy. The company takes steps to identify and address bribery and corruption. The company has a public expectation from its suppliers to not engage in or tolerate bribery and corruption. Further, the company expects its suppliers to comply with the supplier’s handbook, however, there is no evidence that the company includes anti-bribery and anti-corruption clauses in its contracts with business relationships. In a public policy statement, the company discloses its approach to lobbying and political engagement. No evidence that the company has a publicly available policy statement that specifies that it does not make political contributions was found.