UN Sustainable Development Goals

Sustainability

How we contribute to the United Nations sustainability development goals

The UN’s 17 SDGs form part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development adopted by UN member states in 2015. They provide a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for all people and the planet, now and in the future.

Contributing to the sustainable development goals

We fully subscribe to the objectives of the 17 goals and have identified where we have the most impact. While SDG 3 – “Good health and wellbeing” – is core to a business, we contribute to six others.

Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages

Abcam’s mission and purpose are centred on advancing the global understanding of human health, and the diagnosis and cause of disease. Our products and partnerships enable scientific breakthroughs that lead to the development of the medicines and treatments of today and tomorrow.

Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all

We promote and support the study of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) at all careers stages and encourage and create scientific opportunities for groups and individuals for whom careers in STEM are generally inaccessible. At Abcam, STEM is not a side project – many people in STEM institutions are a key demographic and a community we work closely with. Through our collaboration and support of the scientific community, we facilitate scientific learnings and breakthroughs. We promote continuous learning and development among our staff.

Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls

We recognise the need to support women in our workplaces, but also that by creating flexible working policies for all, we can address gender imbalances. We are committed to gender pay parity and our goal is to make Abcam a more diverse and inclusive place for everyone.

Promote sustained, inclusive, and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment, and decent work for all

We aim to be a leading employer that provides rewarding and productive work for all. We encourage and support career development. In addition to fair and supportive workplace policies and practices, we create opportunities for employees to meaningfully engage in and benefit from the strategic and economic growth of the company through our share ownership schemes.

Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialisation and foster innovation

We support key breakthroughs in life sciences through our constant pursuit of collaboration in science and innovation. Our internal R&D resources continuously anticipate and adapt to the needs of the scientific and healthcare communities. Our attention to quality ensures that maximum value and speed is attained.

Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns

We are mindful of the quality and sources of the materials we use, and how our products are used. We apply due diligence across all our product lines, considering quality and ethics at every step. We work closely with our suppliers and partners to ensure compliance with our Supplier Code. We manage and seek to minimise our waste and ensure the responsible management and disposal of waste.

Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts

We recognise that climate change is a global imperative and that we have a role to play in combating it through the responsible use of natural resources, reducing our energy usage and transitioning to renewable energy where possible, and reducing our overall carbon emissions. We measure and report on our carbon emissions.

Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalise the global partnership for sustainable development.

Collaboration and partnerships are at the heart of what we do, as we seek and facilitate scientific and technological innovations and breakthroughs. The way we work encourages and enables knowledge creation and sharing, both within and for our organisation and for the scientific community beyond.

Mapping the SDGs

To inform where we can best maximise positive impact and minimise negative impact for sustainability, we mapped the seven SDGs across our value chain.

Materiality

We identified four meta-trends and 17 issues of material importance to us and our stakeholders.

Learn more

Our sustainability framework

Our sustainability framework weaves together our purpose, culture and strategy, and sets out our priority areas.