Last month, both AstraZeneca and Takeda announced plans to reduce their climate impact, with the former following through rapidly by unveiling plans to plant 25 million trees in Australia.
This move represents half of the total number of trees the company projects it will plant over the next five years.
AZ CEO, Pascal Soriot, pointed towards the recent bushfires in the country as providing an example of the urgency needed to counter the effects of a changing climate.
“These first trees planted today mark the start of our plan to plant 50 million trees around the world and are part of an ambitious program to eliminate carbon emissions from our operations over the next five years – measures which I believe will help reduce the worst effects of a changing climate and improve human health,” Soriot said.
Investment in production
Alongside this announcement, the company also noted that it would spend A$200m ($134m) to improve production in the country.
As a result of the funds, production capabilities will be increased at its Sydney location, and 250 jobs will be created. The expansion will take place over the course of the next four years.
This follows on from a previous A$100m investment into the North Ryde, Sydney site, which produces respiratory medication for a global market. During the 2017 announcement, a spokesperson told us that the capacity increase was to meet demand, with China being a particular driver.
