CEO: Elanco Sustainability Effort Driven by Pandemic
Subscriber Benefit
As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowGreenfield-based Elanco Animal Health Inc. (NYSE: ELAN) is launching a three-prong sustainability commitment it says is the first of its kind in the animal health industry. The company says the Healthy Purpose 2030 effort will improve the health of the planet, people and pets. Chief Executive Officer Jeff Simmons says the decision to make the commitments stems from the COVID-19 pandemic showing the importance of animals to society.
Simmons discussed the pledges Elanco is making in an interview with Business of Health Reporter Kylie Veleta.
“I think we’ve shifted in business from kind of a CSR – corporate social responsibility – to ESG; that’s the environment and social governances – responsible business that knows it can impact society positively (by) holding ourselves accountable,” said Simmons. “So these pledges are public. We’re going to talk about them. They’re measurable. And by doing our business well, by making a health enterprise at Elanco which we have and driving it over the next decade, we are going to have a positive impact.”
The first commitment from Elanco is the “Protein Pledge.” The company says it will create more resilient food systems by enabling 57 million people to access their annual nutritious protein needs.
Elanco has also launched the “Planet Pledge,” which aims to remove 21 million tons of emissions from customers’ farms, while also reducing the company’s own environmental impact.
The company says the first two pledges could help reduce the global emissions intensity of animal protein by 2% over the next decade.
The third pledge is the “Pet Pledge.” The company says it will work to improve the world’s well-being by helping at least 100 million healthy pets help people.
“Almost 7 out of 10 homes in the United States have a pet; it’s almost 1 out of 10 in China,” said Simmons. “The importance of that pet is just an example of how critical it is to the family. Over the last decade, we’ve increased the life of that pet by more than 20%. We’re going to (continue to) do that in the next decade.”
In addition to the commitments, Elanco is also a partner in a new initiative called Food Secure Indy, which is designed to engage local businesses, nonprofits and government officials to address food insecurity in central Indiana.
“Between a coordinated effort and committed people over a longer period of time, we believe in the shortness of a few years, we could create a food secure Indy,” said Simmons. “There will always be poverty. There will always be need for food relief and hunger, but in a food secure system…we believe this can be done because of the collaboration we have from all these parties.”
You can learn more about Healthy Purpose 2030 by clicking here.