Servier, committed to fight climate change

A major global concern, the climate is the subject of strong commitments by economic actors and states, as well as by individuals.

Many nations are mobilizing in favor of carbon neutrality: France, Great Britain and Japan have a 2050 horizon, Norway 2030… Companies are also seeking to reduce their carbon footprint by committing to reducing their greenhouse gas emissions.

COLLECTIVE AWARENESS

The year 2019 was marked by many citizen gatherings for the protection of the planet. Particularly active, young people have united around specific movements, such as Youth for Climate or Fridays for Change. In many countries, the climate issue also plays a role in everyday consumption choices within each household, with, for example, the ‘zero waste’ trend, which aims to reduce pollution linked to waste treatment, or ‘local and seasonal consumption’, to limit the impact related to transportation and greenhouse cultivation. The commitment to the climate also involves energy, with the development of renewable energies or the construction of so-called positive energy buildings, that is, buildings that produce more energy than they need to function.

THE PRIORITY: REDUCING GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS

The latest scientific models highlight theobvious link between greenhouse gasesand climate change. According to the last UN Environment Program report (UNEP), published in November 2019, states should treble the overall level of their engagement by 2030 to keep temperature increases below 2°C. Of the four scenarios developed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the most ambitious–and the only onethat can meet the Paris agreement target–would require an immediate reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of about 10% per year. This is considered very unlikely by the scientific community. The most likely scenarios pointto a temperature increase greater than 3°C. The next IPCC report on climate will be published in 2021-2022.

THE LOW CARBON ERA IN COMPANIES

Faced with climate change challenges, economic players are mobilizing alongside states and citizens. Initiatives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions are multiplying. They are structured according to standards such as ISO 50001 on energy management, or Landfill Free certification, which attests to the reuse or recycling of at least 90% of the waste from an industrial site. In France, companies with over 500 employees must also perform a carbon assessment every four years. This analysis can then be used as a basis for developing a greenhouse gas emissions strategy. The convergence of actions and engagements must make it possible to limit the increase in the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, in the hope of achieving the most optimistic scenarios of the IPCC.

AN AMBITIOUS LOW CARBON STRATEGY

An analysis of the group’s carbon footprint

The first step in the Servier Climate Commitment approach consisted of an assessment of Group emissions. This assessment was performed for 2015-2016. Servier’s results showed an annual overall emission of 1,014,000 metric tonnes of CO2 equivalent. These emissions are separated into three categories or ‘scopes’:

• Scope 1: the Group’s direct emissions (fuels, emissions from Group vehicles, fugitive emissions, industrial processes, etc.) account for 6% of total emissions.
• Scope 2: indirect Group emissions (electricity, heat, steam, etc.) represent 5% of total emissions.
• Scope 3: all other indirect emissions (raw material purchases, freight transportation, waste management, employee travel, etc.) account for 89% of total emissions.

25% reduction in emissions by 2030

In line with COP21 and the Paris Accord engagements, the Group’s strategy is to reduce global CO₂ emissions by 25% by 2030, that is, a reduction of 251,282 CO₂ metric tonnes equivalent. In detail, scopes 1 and 2 would be required to reduce their emissions by 28,900 CO₂ metric tonnes equivalent, and scope 3 by 222,382 CO₂ metric tonnes equivalent. These reduction targets are methodically broken down for each emission item (energy, transportation, packaging, purchase of raw materials, etc). Effective measures have already been taken in a number of sectors. In terms of downstream transportation (from the production site to distributors), the replacement of aircraft by boat between 2016 and 2019, if sustained, will make it possible to reduce the carbon footprint by 12,742 CO₂ equivalent by 2030, i.e. 75% of the final objective in this area.

The Group is committed to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions related to its business travel by 25% by 2030 (and by 16% by 2025) vs 2016. The Travel Policy revised in 2020 invites employees to use the least emissive modes of transport and to hold remote meetings.

Greenhouse Gas emissions (GHG in tons of CO₂ equivalent) related to business travel*.

Year	2021	2020	2019
Business Travel (GHG in tons of CO2 equivalent)	4 002	11 797	30 002
of which Air Travel (GHG in tons of CO2 equivalent)	3 462	10 666	28 886

* Scope : France Headquarters (Suresnes and Biogaran) + R&D France + Egis (Headquarter and industrial sites) + 19 international subsidiaries. Based on the 2019 figures, this scope represents approximately 77% of the Group’s total greenhouse gas emissions related to business travel.