Thermo Fisher Scientific Releases Corporate Social Responsibility Report

According to a May 17 press release, Thermo Fisher Scientific released its annual “Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)” report. The report details the organization’s dedication to society and stakeholders, as well as highlighting its CSR progress and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) efforts.

The report focuses on four key pillars:

• Environment
• Colleagues
• Communities
• Operations

Regarding the environment, the press release states that Thermo Fisher “Progressed the company’s net-zero emissions goals—approved by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi)—for Scopes 1, 2 and 3; achieving a 25% reduction in Scopes 1 and 2 compared to 2018; reaching fossil fuel-free status at 20 sites; and powering 150 sites with renewable electricity.”

Further, Thermo Fisher “Expanded its Design for Sustainability program to accelerate the integration of environmental considerations in product innovation, furthering a long-standing colleague-driven commitment to deliver new solutions that help customers reach their business and sustainability goals.”

The organization also introduced near-term targets for addressing water scarcity and reducing waste.

The organization, according to the news release, says that it has also increased global representation of women in its workforce by 5.9% since 2019. Additionally, Thermo Fisher provided more support to meet colleagues’ evolving needs including payments to offset inflation and expanding mental health coverage in the U.S.

As for communities, the press releases says that the company “Reached more than 89,500 students through global programming to advance STEM education access and equity, completed a record number of community engagement events resulting in over 120,000 colleague volunteer hours, and launched the Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge, the premier middle school STEM competition in the U.S.”

Moreover, the company says it advanced global health equity in more than 100 low-and middle-income countries and developed a number of public-private partnerships focused on the management of infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDs.

Regarding operations, Thermo Fisher says that it “Optimized the company’s responsible sourcing program to increase value to customers, assessing 50% of its direct materials supply for ESG performance and granting over $2 billion in awards to small and diverse suppliers.”

“In reporting its CSR progress, the company considers internationally recognized standards, guidelines and reference frameworks including the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standards, the IFRS Foundation’s SASB Standards, the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),” the release says. “The company makes additional topic-specific ESG data available to key stakeholders through CDP, EcoVadis and the voluntary disclosure of its annual EEO-1 information.”