On may 15, at the premises of the Chamber of Commerce of Serbia, the Conference “CSR Serbia 2024. Pioneers of Social Responisibility” will take place. In the light of this event, we talked to Marko Platiša, Market Access Manager at AstraZeneca, about CSR and ESG-principles, CSR activities and their plans for 2024.
How important is it today that every company, big or small, foreign or domestic, has CSR and ESG-principles as part of your business?
At AstraZeneca, we believe that sustainable and socially responsible business is of essential importance to build a healthy future for people, society and the planet. We are united by the desire to take advantage the power of science and innovation in finding medicines that change people’s lives, but also in partnership with all stakeholders, we work on the biggest challenges of our time, from climate change to access to health care and disease prevention.
Sustainability is part of our organizational DNA, it is embedded in everything we do, from the laboratory to patients, and achieved thanks to the efforts of employees, of which the company is extremely proud.
What are the most significant CSR activities that marked 2023 for your company?
At AstraZeneca, we recognize that there is a strong connection between a healthy planet and the healthy people. It is precisely for this reason that we take bold actions on the climate issue through our flagship program Ambition Zero Carbon we focus our activities on reducing gas emissions from direct and indirect sources. An essential part of this strategy is the transition to an electric vehicle fleet to the end in 2025.
AZ Forest or afforestation is another very important initiative that the company has committed to on an ambitious mission to plant as many as 200 million trees on 6 continents by 2030. In Serbia in the past two years, in cooperation with the Faculty of Forestry, the organization Čuvamo naše planted around 5,000 seedlings and thus made a positive impact on our environment.
AstraZeneca also shows its concern for nature through the urban beekeeping project, which it implements in cooperation with Nordic Business Alliance and beekeepers’ association, which aims to help the survival of bees in nature.
Another project that we are particularly proud of is the Young Health Program “Boost healthy habits” that the company AstraZeneca implements together with the Association “Always healthy attitude”. The project is aimed at raising awareness about obesity and encouraging healthy habits in children.
What are you planning to do in that field in 2024?
In 2024, we will continue to implement multi-year projects such as the Young Health Program, afforestation and urban beekeeping, but always thanks to the enthusiasm and suggestions of employees we are expanding the number of activities and plan to participate in the cleaning of our parks this year, greening of urban pockets and activities aimed at helping our vulnerable members community.
Through these and similar projects, AstraZeneca will continue to contribute to nature protection and creating a better future for all people.