At ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ, we've embedded sustainability across our business – which is helping us to deliver solid progress toward the goals we set in our 2030 Sustainability Plan. From our priority of innovating for greater access in health, to protecting a healthy environment, to building the diverse, innovative workforce of tomorrow, our 2023 Global Sustainability Report highlights progress toward our goal of improving the lives of 3 billion people each year by the end of the decade.
Innovating for Access and Equity
Innovation without access is meaningless. This is why we work so hard to ingrain access and affordability into our products at every stage of development and remove the barriers that stand in the way of good health, evolving the way we invent and bring technologies to the people who need them. A few highlights of our work in 2023:
- In the last year, we further incorporated our Access and Affordability Design Principles into our R&D, manufacturing and commercialization processes across our businesses.
- Because more than 80% of people who need a pacemaker require pacing in two chambers of the heart (both the right atrium and the right ventricle), we introduced AVEIR DR, the world’s first device to offer beat-to-beat wireless communication and synchronization between two leadless pacemakers, each of which is smaller than a triple-A battery. AVEIR DR opens access to leadless pacing for millions of people.
- We announced an agreement that will provide greater access to biosimilar medicines for more people in key emerging markets, together with global biotech leader mAbxience.
- In Tanzania, we worked with the government to expand the reach of emergency medicine – the latest results from more than 20 years of partnership. To date, we have provided emergency care services to nearly 1.3 million patients there. The cover of this year’s report features the program’s 2023 graduates in emergency medicine, reflecting our ongoing commitment to building local healthcare capacity.
- In the U.S., we worked with the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC) to launch an Innovation Incubator, helping eight health centers to find new ways to address the digital divide and advance care for more than 45,000 people in their communities.
Reducing Our Environmental Footprint
Advancing health also means doing our part to improve the health of the planet. Across ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ, we completed 102 projects to help address our environmental impacts at 45 sites across 20 countries. We achieved a 7% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 emissions, making good progress toward our goal of a 30% reduction from our 2018 baseline, and established a $15 million annual environmental sustainability capital fund to support energy efficiency projects. We reduced our water use by 3% overall, and we tripled the number of high-water-impact sites in water-stressed areas that have achieved Alliance for Water Stewardship (AWS) certification, adding four sites for a total of six to date. We also diverted 91% of our operational waste from landfills and increased the number of sites sending zero-waste-to-landfill to 53 globally.
Building the Workforce of Tomorrow
Our ability to build a healthy, sustainable future depends on the innovative ideas, execution and dedication of our global workforce, and this year's report shares updates those efforts. In our original 2030 plan, we had targets to create 1 million development and job opportunities for current and future employees, and to create opportunities in STEM programs and internships for 100,000 young people. In 2023, we were already exceeding our expected progress – so we’re now doubling those goals for 2030.
See our full 2023 Global Sustainability Report for more details on these areas – and to learn more about how we responsibly connect data, technology and care, strengthen our global supply chain and ensure product quality.
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