Sustainability in the Life Sciences: Promoting Transparency Without a Paywall
Jasmin Skinner
on
July 25, 2024
Efforts focused on improving sustainability have become increasingly prevalent in recent years, and the pharmaceutical research and manufacturing industries are no exception.
The United Nations defines sustainability as ‘meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs,’ (United Nations, n.d.). Given the current climate change crisis impacting our planet, current sustainable development goals typically revolve around achieving carbon neutrality.
While individuals may feel compelled to be more active in achieving carbon neutrality, the biggest impact in ‘saving’ the environment will come from companies embracing a more sustainable approach. However, determining a company’s carbon footprint can be confusing and daunting for those without prior knowledge.
Scientist.com, the world’s largest marketplace for scientific services, became an early adopter of many sustainability policies and practices. At the forefront of these initiatives is Matt McLoughlin, SVP of Compliance & Categories, who believes achieving sustainability standards internally is equally as important as providing a platform for marketplace users, which include most of the world’s top pharma and over 5,000 registered service providers, the opportunity to promote their sustainability achievements.
“We always were environmentally conscious and responsible just by the nature of the business and the nature of our Founders,” McLoughlin begins. “As a small, start-up company, it was simple at first for all individuals to do their part in prioritizing small-scale sustainable initiatives, like recycling and switching to renewable energy. After the pandemic, however, something seemed to change within the industry and throughout the company. Not only did company growth require a more diligent eye on internal sustainability efforts, but clients began inquiring about how they could identify the most sustainable suppliers on the platform for their research projects.”
This sea change prompted McLoughlin to be more proactive in conversations with clients and suppliers around sustainability. He continues, ”A first major initiative to support transparency for our clients and suppliers was to add an environmental section to our commercial due diligence process. We began looking at how suppliers addressed waste and what processes they had in place that were triggered by our clients expanding requirements.”
“I strongly believe that the current tools that are out there around sustainability are prohibitive to achieving the wider goal because ultimately companies have to pay to participate [in GHG reporting].”
To aid marketplace users and suppliers in reporting their own SCOPE 1 & 2 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, Scientist.com has also enabled suppliers the ability to annotate their profile with a number of relevant certifications. These include profile annotations from external certifications like the science-based target initiatives (SBTI), as well as other lab-specific certifications including MyGreenLab. We then worked with our pharma clients to develop and implement a bespoke sustainability request for information (RFI) that provides detailed information about suppliers commitments, goals and emissions.
By having this information freely available, sustainability can be considered during supplier selection. McLoughlin adds, “I strongly believe that the current tools that are out there around sustainability are prohibitive to achieving the wider goal because ultimately companies have to pay to participate [in GHG reporting]. This is fine for the multinational corporations who can afford a nominal fee, but sustainability is the responsibility of all. For small suppliers every penny counts, and we need to find ways to remove barriers and not introduce them. Ultimately, if we want this information to be front and center to people who are making decisions, then we must continue to strive to remove even the smallest barrier.”
Promoting sustainability among its users requires a platform that is open and upfront about its own emissions and carbon goals. In the case of Scientist.com, offices make use of 100% renewable energy, and all servers operate on Amazon Web Services, which guarantees 95% renewable energy. This server usage is expected to be halved in the next two years, substantially reducing the already reduced amount of carbon produced by these servers. Moving forward, Scientist.com is intending to increase its transparency regarding GHG emissions by voluntary reporting of SCOPE 3 emissions.
As Scientist.com and its marketplace users work towards reaching their carbon targets, providing and promoting transparency as a platform is critical in supporting sustainability internally and externally. Having accessible, relevant sustainability information is critical for decision makers to enable them to choose sustainable suppliers, as is having a place for suppliers to make potential customers aware of their suitability achievements, for sustainability is too important to put behind a paywall.
References
- The Paris Agreement. Unfccc.int. (n.d.). https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement
- United Nations. (n.d.). United Nations Sustainable Development Agenda. United Nations. https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/development-agenda-retired/#:~:text=Sustainable%20development%20has%20been%20defined,to%20meet%20their%20own%20needs.