Episode 081 | March 25, 2024 | 30:36
Guest: Nick Jenkins
Published: March 25, 2024
Duration: 30:36
Description
Nick Jenkins from Manufacture 2030 and Frederik van Deurs from Green Innovation Group discuss decarbonizing the healthcare industry. Learn how Manufacture 2030 helps large manufacturing brands reduce their carbon footprint through data collection, action plans and expert partnerships. The importance of addressing Scope 3 emissions and setting science-based targets.
Full transcript
About this transcript
This transcript was automatically generated and may contain inaccuracies, typos, or mistranslations. Episodes recorded before 2024 were transcribed by an on-site model and may have a higher error rate. The content reflects the original conversation to the best of our ability. For the authoritative version, please listen to the audio episode.
Nick Jenkins: We are not a consultancy. The principle part of what we do is a software-as-a-service platform — our buying clients (manufacturers) connected on one side, their supply chain on the other. We help put decarbonization efforts on rails — a trajectory for you as a supplier to the global pharma company that has its targets on Science-Based Targets initiative.
Frederik: We recently analyzed the top 20 global pharma companies — they all now have SBTi targets. One year ago, not the case.
Hello and welcome to the Sustainable Healthcare Podcast. Today Nick Jenkins joins me from Manufacture 2030. I met Nick at a conference in Berlin around sustainable pharma production.
Nick’s background: I’ve worked for Manufacture 2030 since May this year. Before that, 15 years in life sciences commercial roles — most recently at Eppendorf (lab equipment). I always existed in that world; my background is science. Over the last couple of years before Manufacture 2030, I had more active involvement in our company’s sustainability efforts and engaging with pharma clients on theirs.
What Manufacture 2030 does: we are a carbon reduction partner for our clients — some of the largest manufacturing brands. I’m responsible for pharma — GSK, Pfizer. Also automotive, grocers, retailers, consumer health. Our role is engaging their vast and sprawling global supply chains to accelerate suppliers’ own sustainability journeys — primarily decarbonization, also water, waste, raw materials.
SaaS platform on one side, buyers connected to suppliers on the other. We also facilitate — connecting suppliers to a web of expert partners (technical, regulatory) across geographies. For instance helping a supplier expand access to renewable electricity in their region.
How it works: as a pharma company you come to us. We go out to your supply chain to get suppliers to connect to our platform and submit targeted baseline metrics. That data is a means to an end — important to see your supplier footprint, but the goal is to support each supplier in building a specific action plan: “here are the initiatives I’m going to undertake at the facility level — measure, reduce energy use, on-site solar, etc.” That builds a glide path.
Why important: 80%+ of a large pharma company’s emissions are in Scope 3 — indirectly in your control, often poorly understood, sitting in multiple tiers of suppliers. Scope 1 and 2 (energy you buy, your factory’s chimneys) are in your direct control. The bulk is the supply chain.
Frederik: Pharma asks suppliers for ESG reporting and SBTi commitments within six months. The question is what tool will assess that meaningfully across hundreds of thousands of suppliers, and how do you act on it? Asking “are you using renewable energy and can you prove it” might be simpler and more impactful — addresses the bulk of emissions and is verifiable from invoices.
Nick: Action is the key word. Companies are still in the visibility step. For Manufacture 2030 we are sensitive that there are many reporting asks — duplicating them quickly becomes burdensome. So we collect a targeted amount of data — means to an end. Then we move to action: building a glide path, setting SBTi targets, validated and approved, plotting how each concrete action contributes to that path. Connecting suppliers to partners that help with renewable electricity — easy in Europe or North America, tricky in certain states in India.
Frederik: South Africa is complex — the fossil industry has blocked deployment of renewable energy capacity. In China industrial sites have contracted water and electricity suppliers from the start — less wiggle room than in a liberal market. Renewable steam vs electric vs gas boilers is a recurring challenge. CapEx investments in some geographies easy, in others very complex.
Nick’s career advice: get started. Be the flag-bearer / internal champion for sustainability before it becomes your official job title. Lots of free resources and training. The space is highly collaborative — partly because it has to be. Companies should move toward setting science-based targets — that is the gold standard, a verified path to decarbonization. There are more organizations and training to help even companies that do not yet have a sustainability team to persuade their leaders.
Frederik: Summary — be the flag-bearer, contextualize for budget holders in P&L and risk-mitigation language, frame as opportunity rather than cost.
Thank you Nick. Thanks for listening — please subscribe and share.