Nordic Pharma is an international pharmaceutical company specialising in the therapeutic areas of rheumatology, women’s health, and critical care. Through their work, they strive to solve unmet medical needs and improve patient care, creating effective products to fight disease. Headquartered in Paris and Amsterdam, the company has offices in 12 locations across Europe and Canada. Nordic Pharma began working with Grain in March 2022 to help formalise their approach to corporate social responsibility, measure their environmental impact, and set a clear strategy for the future.
Supporting Nordic Pharma’s sustainability journey
In order to understand the most strategic areas for the business to focus on, we undertook a materiality assessment and identified a set of topics aligned with environmental, social and governance themes. This formed the basis for a series of interviews with stakeholders from senior management, suppliers, and customers. The interviews, coupled with output from a senior management sustainability session, enabled us to develop a materiality matrix that mapped the importance of each topic.
To give the strategy context, we reviewed a series of frameworks, identifying those that best met the needs for Nordic Pharma’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) ambitions. Grain proposed an approach that mapped out key stages for the CSR strategy over the next five years and that aligned with the company’s values and existing corporate strategy. Nordic Pharma’s mission is to ‘make a sustainable impact on people’s health’.
As a parallel activity, we measured Nordic Pharma’s 2021 carbon footprint to use as a baseline for the strategy. Under the Greenhouse Gas Protocol approach, we gathered data from the four largest locations for scopes 1 and 2. The scope 3 data included purchased goods and services, capital goods, generated waste, and business travel. Where data was incomplete (as is often the case for early footprint measurement), we were able to calculate assumptions.
Recommendations for sustainability
During the process, we provided Nordic Pharma with presentations and recommendations that were used internally to inform and engage the key stakeholders in the business. We listened to their direction and feedback and ensured that our recommendations fit the company’s overall mid-term aims.
In addition, and following a communications review, we have provided suggestions for supporting activity to share the CSR commitments and progress, including a visual identity to highlight CSR communications. Over the course of 2023, Nordic Pharma developed its content further and published its inaugural annual CSR Report in alignment with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI).
A successful partnership
Good progress has already been made in delivering on elements of the CSR strategy, with Nordic Pharma signing up to the Pharmaceutical Supply Chain Initiative (PSCI) to establish and promote responsible practices in procurement. The organisation has also achieved and retained an EcoVadis Bronze rating, joining a community dedicated to sustainability commitment. Further implementation of the key CSR strategy areas is underway, and Grain is providing ongoing support for the Nordic Pharma team.
“Grain is a very valuable and trusted partner. They have quickly and fully grasped our complex organization, our ambition to become a more sustainable company and what is at stake for us. We have really moved our green journey in the right direction with their guidance and support. Also, they are always positive and a pleasure to work with — something not to take for granted!”
— Sophia Kazoglou, Global Communication & Sustainability Manager, Nordic Pharma
