Nordic Life Science 1
74 N ORDIC COMPANIES have been at the forefront o
f CSR practices, setting the benchmark for other regions to follow, with many companies making significant investments in sustainable technology and integrated social and environmental considerations as part of their business operations. This makes sense according to Bengt Mattson, Policy Manager at the Swedish pharmaceutical industry association Läkemedelsindustriföreningen (Lif ) as “If we speak about corporate sustainability in general, the Nordics are leaders in my view. We see Scandinavia, Germany, and the Netherlands, moving faster than the rest of the world for the time being.” Pharma giant Novo Nordisk has for example long been committed to CSR and has implemented a range of initiatives to promote sustainable practices. The company has invested in sustainable technologies, including a zeroemission production plant, has set ambitious targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and has established a stakeholder engagement process to understand the needs and expectations of its stakeholders. “It has become crucial to have stakeholder dialogue and listen to your different stakeholder groups, including consumers and end users,” explains Leena Delestre, Principal Sustainability Consultant at AFRY. For Novo Nordisk, there is wide recognition of this importance to ensure that its products and services meet the needs of patients and healthcare providers and that its operations are socially responsible and sustainable. Policies and Regulations Governments play an important role in promoting CSR, and many Nordic countries have implemented policies and regulations that require companies to report on their sustainability performance and how it is integrated into their business operations. There is a general alignment in CSR practices in the region, with a focus on transparency, accountability, and mandatory reporting. Denmark and Norway have mandatory reporting requirements for CSR, while Sweden has guidelines in place for voluntary CSR reporting. “Additionally, In Norway, they have developed legislation on social responsibility through the Transparency Act which means for companies to identify the human rights risks and impacts in their supply chains. There are also national action plans for business and human rights in Sweden and Finland. There may be some differences depending on sector-specific regulations or guidelines, but overall, the requirements are quite similar between the Nordic countries,” says Delestre. In Sweden, the Environmental Code requires companies to conduct environmental impact assessments and to take measures to minimize their environmental impact, and a national system for environmental management, which provides companies with guidance on how to integrate environmental and social responsibility into their operations. A love for nature For the most part, people are very close to nature in the Nordics. It has really a high value for people and their well-being. It’s almost like a human right to have access to nature. Having an environment that is good for your life is very important. “We are expected to respect nature,” says Delestre, “and this might be why the environment plays a large role in CSR in the Nordic region, though there are still blind spots.” Mattson backs this idea as well, highlighting that some water-related sustainability initiatives might have been less rapidly implemented in the Nordic region for the simple reason that we have so much water and small populations. Whereas in the more southern parts of Europe, and also parts of the US, there is water scarcity in some very heavily populated areas, and they’ve been more rapid in implementing initiatives and legislative measures to secure the quality of groundwater. “But in general, the Nordics are always ranked very high and probably because we just love nature,” he says. Nordic consumers are known for being environmenBengt Mattson, Policy Manager, Lif Sweden tally conscious and willing to pay more for sustainable products, something which Mattson highlights, saying, “consumers have an enormous role because at the end of the day, for, a company, things has to be commercially CSR // SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY PHOTO GUNILLA LUNDSTRÖM