Chiesi Group calls for #ActionOverWords in climate change fight

PARMA, Italy, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Chiesi Group is calling for #ActionOverWords to encourage measurable sustainability action and invite accountability.

Announcing its 2035 carbon neutral target, Chiesi is not the first company to make public commitments to reduce its carbon footprint, but wants to start a conversation about corporate action: the need to move from celebrating commitments to celebrating measurable progress, independently audited.

"It's time to make announcements that mean something," Ugo Di Francesco, Chiesi Group CEO said. "Companies should be held accountable for their commitments and society should not forget promises made. We want to commit to things that are measurable, and dare to share our progress publicly. We invite our peers to join us on this path."

Corporate sustainability commitments often focus on words rather than actions, using terms like carbon neutral, net zero and climate neutral interchangeably based on what sounds more impressive. But only a few refer to official standards to measure progress on an individual company level. This only exists for carbon neutrality^[1]. Without action independently verified according to international standards, sustainability commitments are just words.

Many commitments also do not include indirect emissions that occur in a company's value chain and during product use (scope 3 emissions). 

The largest pharmaceutical certified B Corp, Chiesi's commitments are approved by the Science Based Targets Initiative^[2] and aligned with the Paris Agreement's goal to limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C^[3]. They cover scopes 1, 2 & 3, based on full transparency:

• Carbon neutral by 2030 on direct greenhouse gas emissions and indirect GHG emissions from purchased electricity and heat (scopes 1 & 2) and by 2035 on indirect GHG emissions (scope 3).
• Full disclosure of Chiesi's emissions inventory through the Carbon Disclosure Project^[4],  transparently benchmarking Chiesi's emissions against industry peers yearly.
• Independent verification of the value and efficacy of Chiesi's plans (including mitigation actions and carbon offsetting of residual GHG emissions) within the internationally recognised PAS 2060 specification process^[5].

Visit www.actionoverwords.org to learn more.

[1] Certified Carbon Neutral Global Standard, "The Carbon Neutral Protocol January 2021" www.carbonneutral.com.
British Standards Institution, "PAS 2060 Carbon Neutrality" www.bsigroup.com   

[2] The Science-based Targets Initiative, "How it works?" www.sciencebasedtargets.org    

[3] United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, "The Paris Agreement" www.unfccc.int 

[4] Carbon Disclosure Project, www.cdp.net

[5] British Standards Institution, "PAS 2060 Carbon Neutrality" www.bsigroup.com