Biogen to Invest $250 Million in a 20-year Initiative to Eliminate
its Use of Fossil Fuels and Improve Public Health
Biogen Inc. (Nasdaq: BIIB) today announced Healthy Climate,
Healthy Lives™, a groundbreaking $250 million, 20-year initiative
to eliminate fossil fuels across its operations and collaborate
with renowned institutions with the aim to improve health,
especially for the world’s most vulnerable populations.
Building on its long-standing commitment to corporate
responsibility, Biogen’s goal is to eliminate its fossil fuel
emissions by 2040, as well as be a catalyst for positive change by
advancing the science around how fossil fuels impact human health
and taking action to promote climate and health equity. Fossil fuel
emissions drive the climate crisis and emit harmful air pollutants
that are a leading cause of death around the globe,1 claiming
nearly 9 million lives annually2 with the greatest toll on the most
vulnerable. Evidence shows that fossil fuel emissions play a direct
role in the worsening of various health conditions, and emerging
data suggests possible links to COVID-19 as well as brain health.
It is Biogen’s objective to advance the science in this area. With
this announcement, Biogen becomes the first Fortune 500 company
committing to become fossil fuel free across its operations by
2040.
“Our Healthy Climate, Healthy Lives initiative further builds on
Biogen’s long-standing strategy to deal with climate change by
addressing the interrelated challenges of climate and health,
including in the realm of brain health,” said Michel Vounatsos,
CEO, Biogen. “Biogen was the first company in the life sciences
industry to become carbon neutral. We believe that it is time to
take even greater action by implementing a well-defined program
that examines how we live, how we do business and how we consume
energy. By doing so, Biogen will play its part to address and
impact dramatic health disparities among people around the world,
as well as build a stronger, more sustainable future for all.”
“The breadth of Biogen’s initiative is striking. I am not aware
of any other company that has pledged to go fossil fuel free across
their entire global operations,” said Bill Sisson, Executive
Director, World Business Council for Sustainable
Development North America. “While others are taking
significant steps to get to net zero carbon emissions, Biogen is
taking the next step by eliminating fossil fuel use in all aspects
of its business. I applaud their ambition.”
In 2014 Biogen took a leadership position on climate change by
becoming carbon neutral. Since then -- as climate science has
evolved and given mounting evidence that the burdens of climate
change are not shared equally -- Biogen determined it was
imperative to establish aggressive new targets in line with the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change guidance and approved by
the Science Based Targets Initiative.
Healthy Climate, Healthy Lives has two principal components:
- Biogen intends to become fossil fuel free – to go
beyond carbon neutrality by eliminating emissions on an accelerated
timeframe. The company plans to:
- Power operations entirely by renewable energy by 2040.
- Support and encourage suppliers to become fossil fuel free.
Biogen’s objectives include that 80 percent of suppliers commit to
science-based targets by 2025 and that 50 percent source 100
percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2030,
expanding to 90 percent of suppliers by 2040.3
- Transition its fleet of more than 1,500 vehicles to electric by
2025 and deploy infrastructure for workplace charging at more than
30 corporate locations.
- Establish new green chemistry targets by 2021, integrating
these principles into all stages of therapy development by 2023.
Biogen intends that all products achieve more than 90 percent of
the green chemistry targets by 2030.
- Address fossil fuel-derived plastics by eliminating, minimizing
or closed-loop recycling all plastics across all business functions
and eliminating plastics in secondary and tertiary packaging by
2040.
- Actively support other institutions in their efforts to combat
climate change by increasing investments in high-performing ESG
(environmental, social and governance) companies and investment
funds.
- Assist employees’ ability to go fossil fuel free in their homes
and enable them to invest in ESG options in eligible retirement
plans.
- Biogen is collaborating with global
leaders, including MIT and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public
Health, to use data science and predictive analytics to drive
strategies to mitigate environmental and health impacts from
climate change as well as influence policy and improve
health outcomes, particularly for the world’s most
vulnerable populations.
- The collaboration with the MIT Joint Program on the
Science and Policy of Global Change and the MIT
Technology and Policy Program will support the creation of new
models of how different climate actions impact human health. The
insights will be used to bridge research-to-policy gaps, influence
policy decisions and advance training of the next generation of
scientists and leaders for far-reaching impact.
- Biogen will work with the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public
Health’s Center for Climate, Health, and the Global Environment
(Harvard Chan C-CHANGE) to help under-resourced healthcare clinics
become more climate resilient and improve patient health.
- Biogen will convene with other leading global institutions,
including World Business Council on Sustainable Development
(WBCSD), World Economic Forum (WEF) and the United Nations Global
Compact (UNGC) to advocate for science-based progress at the
intersection of climate, health and equity.
“Biogen’s collaboration will inject an exciting new facet into
the Joint Program: inclusion of human health and well-being as key
new considerations in decision-making regarding the best pathways
forward to address the global climate challenge,” said Joint
Program Co-Director Ronald Prinn, TEPCO Professor of Atmospheric
Science in the MIT Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary
Sciences. “The sponsorship also will enable us to welcome a
distinguished new Biogen Fellow who will pursue this objective
through work with the MIT Technology and Policy Program Research to
Policy Engagement
Initiative.”
“Climate change has a direct impact on health today, and people of
color and low-income communities are being hit first and worst by
this crisis,” said Dr. Aaron Bernstein, Interim Director of Harvard
Chan C-CHANGE. “The climate crisis is an urgent public health issue
and one that healthcare systems, particularly community health
centers, are unprepared to address, whether in terms of
infrastructure, operations or standards of care. Biogen is stepping
up to support a first-of-its-kind program to address this gap, with
a goal of improving health and care delivery in marginalized
communities.”
The Healthy Climate, Healthy Lives initiative will be divided
across two principal areas during a 20-year period: the company’s
operations, including employee benefits and related programs; and
support of new collaborations. The initiative’s funding will start
in 2021.
For more information about Biogen’s Healthy Climate, Healthy
Lives commitment and the components of the framework, please visit
biogen.com/hchl.
______________________________1 The University of Chicago.
“Particulate air pollution is the single greatest threat to human
health globally,” The Air Quality Life Index (AQLI):
https://aqli.epic.uchicago.edu/pollution-facts/2 Jos Lelieveld.
“Loss of life expectancy from air pollution compared to other risk
factors: a worldwide perspective,” Cardiovascular Research, Volume
116, Issue 11 (2020):
https://academic.oup.com/cardiovascres/article/116/11/1910/57708853
Supplier percentages dictated by spend
About BiogenAt Biogen, our mission is clear: we
are pioneers in neuroscience. Biogen discovers, develops and
delivers worldwide innovative therapies for people living with
serious neurological and neurodegenerative diseases as well as
related therapeutic adjacencies. One of the world’s first global
biotechnology companies, Biogen was founded in 1978 by Charles
Weissmann, Heinz Schaller, Kenneth Murray and Nobel Prize winners
Walter Gilbert and Phillip Sharp. Today Biogen has the leading
portfolio of medicines to treat multiple sclerosis, has introduced
the first approved treatment for spinal muscular atrophy,
commercializes biosimilars of advanced biologics and is focused on
advancing research programs in multiple sclerosis and
neuroimmunology, Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, neuromuscular
disorders, movement disorders, ophthalmology, immunology,
neurocognitive disorders, acute neurology and pain.
We routinely post information that may be important to investors
on our website at www.biogen.com. Follow us on social media
– Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube.
Biogen Safe HarborThis news release contains
forward-looking statements, made pursuant to the safe harbor
provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995,
including statements relating to the potential benefits and results
that may be achieved through our Healthy Climate, Healthy Lives
initiative; the anticipated timeline of our Healthy Climate,
Healthy Lives initiative; capital allocation and investment
strategy; and our strategy and plans. These forward-looking
statements may be accompanied by words such as “aim,” “anticipate,”
“believe,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “forecast,” “goal,”
“intend,” “may,” “objective,” “plan,” “potential,” “possible,”
“will,” “would” and other words and terms of similar meaning. You
should not place undue reliance on these statements or the
scientific data presented.
These statements involve risks and uncertainties that could
cause actual results to differ materially from those reflected in
such statements, including, without limitation: risks that the
goals of our Healthy Climate, Healthy Lives initiative will be
completed in a timely manner or at all; uncertainty as to whether
the anticipated benefits of the our Healthy Climate, Healthy Lives
can be achieved; risks of unexpected hurdles, costs or delays; and
the direct and indirect impacts of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic on
our business, results of operations and financial condition. The
foregoing sets forth many, but not all, of the factors that could
cause actual results to differ from our expectations in any
forward-looking statement. Investors should consider this
cautionary statement, as well as the risks factors identified in
our most recent annual or quarterly report and in other reports we
have filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. These
statements are based on our current beliefs and expectations and
speak only as of the date of this news release. We do not undertake
any obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements,
whether as a result of new information, future developments or
otherwise.
MEDIA CONTACT:David Caouette+ 1 617 679
4945public.affairs@biogen.com |
INVESTOR CONTACT:Joe Mara+1 781 464 2442IR@biogen.com |
Biogen (TG:IDP)
Historical Stock Chart
From Jun 2024 to Jul 2024
Biogen (TG:IDP)
Historical Stock Chart
From Jul 2023 to Jul 2024