Abstract

The life science industry has a significant environmental impact and therefore plays an important role in the global fight against climate change and other critical environmental issues. However, despite the growing global awareness of this issue, many organizations struggle to implement actionable solutions in their labs and lab supply chains. At COP 28 in November 2022, My Green Lab, in partnership with Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), released a comprehensive evaluation of the carbon impact of biotech and pharma across all three scopes of impact (1, 2, and 3). The 2022 study found the industry released 260 million tCO2-e, more than the forest and paper industry. Further, the study revealed that 91% of biotech and pharma companies do not have carbon reduction targets aligned with a 1.5˚C warming scenario, the emission targets that the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (UNFCCC) estimates will avoid the worst impacts of climate change. In addition to the industry's overall impact, this presentation will discuss the challenges organizations face in implementing sustainable practices in their labs and lab supply chains, outlining the key hotspots of impact as well as opportunities to reduce them through behavior change, technology adoption, and organizational policy change. Through case studies drawn from Academic, Commercial R&D, and QC Laboratories we will provide practical takeaways any lab can use to start reducing their impact and join a global movement for sustainable labs worldwide.