Energize initiative to boost renewable energy access for pharma suppliers

A new programme called Energize has been launched to accelerate the adoption of renewable energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions within the pharmaceutical value chain. ​

The Energize programme is a collaboration between Schneider Electric and 10 global pharmaceutical companies to engage hundreds of suppliers in climate action and decarbonisation of the pharmaceutical value chain. The programme is a first-of-its-kind effort to leverage the scale of a single industry’s global supply chain in a pre-competitive fashion to drive system level change.

Creating medicines and services requires a lot of energy, much of it being used by the value chain. According to Schneider Electric, the programme will help pharmaceutical and healthcare suppliers to address their own operational Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions through green power procurement, which in turn will reduce the participating companies’ Scope 3 emissions. 

The programme will enable pharmaceutical suppliers to learn more about renewable energy adoption and contracting. Schneider Electric explained that, in practice, this will mean giving suppliers the opportunity to participate in the market for power purchase agreements (PPAs). The programme will initially focus on suppliers with energy load in Europe and North America, with the intention to expand globally where interest and renewable energy market opportunity align. Convened by Carnstone, the Energize programme will be designed and delivered by Schneider Electric. 

“Limiting global warming to safe levels will depend on moving the entire world to renewable energy. This is not something that companies can achieve on their own. We are strong believers in the power of collaboration, and are honoured to be bringing the pharmaceutical industry together to drive the adoption of renewable energy in its supply chains,” commented Glynn Roberts, Senior Partner at Carnstone.

“We believe Energize will be a really effective collaboration of pharmaceutical companies looking to take bold climate action. Every business should be moving aggressively towards using 100 percent renewable electricity, and supporting their supply chains to do the same,” added Sam Kimmins, Head of RE100, Climate Group.

Corporate programme members include: AstraZeneca, Biogen, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), Johnson & Johnson, MSD, Novartis, Novo Nordisk, Pfizer, Sanofi and Takeda.