Raising a flag for the Sustainable Development Goals

Together for the UN Sustainable Development Goals

In 2015, the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were adopted. Although progress has been made on many fronts in the eight years since the 17 SDGs were adopted, the world has also moved backward on many indicators for achieving the goals – including eradicating extreme poverty, increasing vaccine coverage, and achieving sustainable economic growth.  In fact, the 2023 Global Sustainable Development Report shows that of 36 indicators for the 17 goals, the UN reports that on eight, there has been a deterioration, and on 12 limited or no progress. Fair progress has been made, with acceleration needed, on 14 indicators. Only two indicators show the world has made substantial progress and is on track.  

Every inch of progress counts 

The private sector has the power to create solutions needed to address the challenges the world is facing and heed the call to action to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity. 

Eliminating waste in a critical supply chain 

At Controlant, we are solving the critical issue of immense waste in pharma supply chains. With a carbon footprint greater than that of the automotive industry, and an estimated 30% of all medicines wasted as they travel from production to patient, there is a significant opportunity to reduce waste in one of the world's most important supply chains. Across Controlant, our talented people and teams are contributing to realize our vision of zero-waste pharma supply chains, and thereby creating a more sustainable future for the planet and patients. As the Global Sustainable Development Report highlights—every inch of progress matters. 

Accelerating sustainable innovation 

Goal 9: Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization, and foster innovation  

Through an array of patents which make up Controlant’s intellectual property portfolio, we can accelerate our innovation efforts in the cold supply chain and make the infrastructure within the industry seamless and efficient. As an example, one of our patents focuses on the responsible consumption of the logger's battery by varying the wake-up frequency of our logger devices. 

“Controlant has a diverse intellectual property portfolio, with a growing number of patents aimed at conserving energy.” Jad Kroma, IP Search Specialist 

Reducing waste and emissions  

Goal 13: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts 

Just as we work with our customers to realize zero-waste pharma supply chains, we have also established climate commitments for our own operations. Our supply chain management team is dedicated to ensuring that at every step of our chain, we act in line with our climate commitments to reduce waste and carbon emissions.  

“We are taking multiple steps to make our operations more sustainable; we have moved to container sea shipments when sending products and we are reusing packing material when shipping products to customers. By focusing on having the right product, at the right location at the right time, we are minimizing waste in our own supply chain." Daði Rúnar Jónsson, Director of Supply Chain Management

Promoting wellbeing and lifelong learning 

Goal 3: Ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing for all at all ages. 

Goal 4: Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all 

The Learning and Development team in Controlant works with people across the company to ensure they have the skills and knowledge needed for the job. But more than that, they provide training on a range of topics that support health and wellbeing – anything from anti-harassment training to eye-strain prevention. 

“The L&D team works on designing and producing content to support the growth of our coworkers. As part of that, we get to produce e-learning materials which can support employee's wellbeing. One of the first courses I created was a video on stretching at your desk. We made the storyline fun and tried to show easy ways to incorporate stretching in everyday situations. As a fast-paced company, our teams are working to meet big deadlines and stress needs to be managed, so we offered a lot of support from courses to workshops and coaching.” Sonia Nicolson, Instructional Designer 

Big or small, every contribution makes a difference. 

#TogetherForTheSDGs