Wednesday, June 24, 2026
Lonza turns pharma decarbonisation ambition into execution
DecarbonisationScope 3
At The Pharma Sustainability Days in Geneva (May 2026), Lonza shared its perspective on how pharmaceutical decarbonisation is evolving in practice, moving from climate commitments towards structured, investment-ready execution.
A key observation is the increasingly tight link between climate and health. Climate change is already influencing disease patterns and increasing pressure on healthcare systems, while healthcare remains a significant contributor to global emissions. This dual dynamic is now clearly shaping expectations across the value chain, from regulators to healthcare providers and investors.
What Lonza sees across projects and collaborations is a sector entering a more execution-driven phase. After several years focused on target-setting, the priority is shifting towards implementation, under the combined pressure of regulation, energy costs, and demand for more sustainable healthcare solutions. In practice, however, many organisations are still constrained by fragmented data and the difficulty of integrating Scope 3 into financial decision-making.
Scope 3 remains the dominant challenge, typically representing the majority of emissions in pharmaceutical manufacturing. From an operational standpoint, this means decarbonisation can no longer be addressed through internal efficiency alone. Progress increasingly depends on supplier engagement, improved primary data collection, and the integration of carbon criteria into sourcing and procurement decisions. The focus is gradually shifting from individual sites to full value chain transformation.
On the ground, Lonza observes that companies tend to balance two timelines. Near-term actions focus on energy efficiency, optimisation of utilities such as steam and HVAC systems, and increased use of renewable electricity. At the same time, longer-term levers are being explored, including alternative energy sources, electrification of processes, and eco-design approaches, including product-level carbon footprinting. The main differentiator is no longer technical availability, but the ability to align internal stakeholders and prioritise investments effectively.
This is also reinforcing a more structured approach to business value. Decarbonisation is increasingly being embedded into capital allocation decisions, using metrics such as cost per ton of CO₂ abated and prioritisation of high-impact, feasible initiatives. In some cases, Lonza notes that this is already starting to influence product positioning, particularly where lower-carbon solutions are being integrated into customer discussions.
Despite this progress, several barriers remain consistent across the industry: weak baseline data, incomplete Scope 3 integration, limited financial alignment, and persistent organisational silos.
Three key signals emerge from this transition. Decarbonisation is becoming operational rather than aspirational. Scope 3 is now the central frontier of climate strategy. And financial integration is emerging as a key enabler of scale.
As expectations continue to rise across the healthcare ecosystem, Lonza highlights that the ability to move from ambition to structured, finance-backed execution is increasingly shaped by environments where industry stakeholders can exchange pragmatically on implementation challenges. This is precisely the type of dialogue that The Pharma Sustainability Days aims to foster.