I was recently asked to name who I thought had used PR well in 2019 and was surprised to find myself writing Greta and Greggs in the same sentence.

If there was one unequivocal thing that marked 2019, it was the thrusting of climate change onto the world population’s radar. Now I am not saying that there hadn’t been significant debate prior, but the magnitude in 2019, catalysed or exemplified (whichever way you view it) by a young woman from Sweden, was exceptional.

The recent Davos economic summit majored on sustainability as the direction of travel for economies, even if there was variation between nations in the degree. Even Trump, despite his tirade against the ‘prophets of doom‘, still committed to join the World Economic Forum’s initiative to plant, restore and conserve a trillion trees.

So hopefully we can all agree that doing something is better than doing nothing, whatever view we take on the direness of the climate situation.

The Healthcare Communications Association, supported by Cello Health and sustainability communication specialists Forster Communications, has recently been working with pharma industry communicators to consider how sustainability can be achieved within the sector and the critically important role of the communicator.

Companies are certainly on very differing paths in terms of successfully implementing sustainability at the heart of their business and aligning them with overall business objectives. Sustainability is also a word we now hear used a lot. But how it is interpreted may also vary considerably.

Defining sustainability

The most universally accepted definition of sustainability came from the United Nations as long ago as 1982: sustainability is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

It is suggested that there are now three pillars for a ‘healthy bottom line’ for any business: environmental protection, economic growth and social equity.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) vs Sustainability

The pharma industry has a strong history in CSR. Examples include not-for-profit drug development, drug donation schemes and aid and skills donation, to name a few. But how does CSR fit with sustainability?