Global pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca has joined The Climate Group’s business leadership initiative on electric vehicles, EV100.
AstraZeneca plans to switch its 16,000-vehicle fleet to electric. The company – which is headquartered in Cambridge, the U.K., with major corporate sites in the U.S. and Sweden – is the first pharmaceutical company to join the EV100 initiative, says The Climate Group.
“When a pharmaceutical company says we need to go electric to help everyone breathe clean air, every business with a fleet needs to listen,” comments Helen Clarkson, CEO of The Climate Group. “This is great example of a company addressing the global climate and air pollution crisis. As the first global healthcare company to flip its fleet through EV100, and the 50th large business to do so, AstraZeneca is setting a new benchmark in the drive to electric vehicles.”
“Recognizing the link between a healthy environment and human health, we believe that by investing in electric vehicles and emissions-reduction initiatives, we can help reduce the burden of respiratory diseases and other air pollution-related conditions,” says Katarina Ageborg, executive vice president of sustainability and chief compliance officer at AstraZeneca.
To support the shift to EVs, AstraZeneca will expand charging infrastructure at its office sites. The company expects the switch to EVs to save over 80,000 metric tons of CO2 every year from 2030.
The company is also a member of The Climate Group’s RE100 initiative, in partnership with CDP, through which it is committed to sourcing 100% renewable electricity by 2025.
