UNGC communication on progress

Bristol Myers Squibb UN Global Compact Communication on Progress 2022

Bristol Myers Squibb is a participant of the United Nations Global Compact, which is the world’s largest corporate citizenship and sustainability initiative.

To our stakeholders:

 

It is with great pride that I submit Bristol Myers Squibb’s eleventh annual Communication on Progress report.

We value the opportunity to tell our global compact story – to reaffirm our commitment to the Ten Principles of the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) and to highlight the many ways we bring these principles to life through our people and our practices. The UNGC is closely aligned with our own longstanding company “Commitment” – a statement of company principles that places a premium on integrity, ethics, human rights, transparency, diversity and economic, social and environmental sustainability. Meeting these high standards is therefore part of our everyday business.

We are grateful for this opportunity and for the continued leadership and partnership of our UNGC colleagues.

Sincerely,

Chris Boerner, PhD
Chief Executive Officer

Introduction

 

Bristol Myers Squibb joined the U.N. Global Compact in December 2010 and this year we further integrated its principles encompassing Human Rights, Labor, Environment and Anti-Corruption across our company. Our commitment to the U.N. Global Compact is available to all employees and to the public on our company website.  In this report, we provide an update on our efforts in support of the 4 pillars of the Global Compact: Human Rights, Labor, Environment, and Anti-Corruption.

Bristol Myers Squibb has established Principles of Integrity and our Standards of Business Conduct and Ethics, which embody our high standards of ethical behavior and form the basis of our interactions with our employees, patients, customers, shareholders and the global community. Dr. Giovanni Caforio, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer  Emeritus of Bristol Myers Squibb, holds the most senior position in the company with operational responsibility for all aspects of the business, including labor and human rights. Kim Jablonski, Chief Compliance & Ethics Officer holds the most senior position within the company with operational responsibilities for compliance and ethics.

Bristol Myers Squibb continues to be ranked on Corporate Responsibility magazine’s annual list of the 100 Best Corporate Citizens, a leading index for socially responsible investors and other stakeholders. We have been included in the rankings every year since their inception in 2009. In 2022, Bristol Myers Squibb continued to collaborate with Business for Social Responsibility to support the Guiding Principles on Access to Healthcare, which include a principle on respecting human rights, and we reported our progress towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) through their alignment with the Global Reporting Index (GRI), which can be found in our 2021 ESG Report.

This year, we continued our efforts to support the SDGs and the UN Global Compact as a participant in the UN SDG Young Innovators Program and the Global Compact Action Platform ‘Health is Everyone’s Business’. Since 2018, Bristol Myers Squibb has supported the U. N. Office of Human Rights Global LGBTI Standards for Business and the One Young World Lead 2030 Initiative, as the sponsor of the challenge for U.N. SDG 10, Reduce Inequalities. Each year we renewed our commitment to support the SDG through this program, in 2021 applying our focus on advancing progress for SDG 4, addressing STEM efforts and in 2022 for SDG 12 with a lens on the intersection between climate and human health.

After achieving our Sustainability 2020 Goals across the areas of patients, people, supply chain and the environment, we published our evolved environmental, social and governance (ESG) strategy that reflects our ambition to integrate sustainability across our global enterprise. Our ESG strategy seeks to mobilize our combined capabilities and resources to positively impact the communities where we live, work and serve, with four focus areas:

  • We are committed to quality, integrity and ethics in everything we do.
  • We seek to actively improve the health of the communities where we live work and serve.
  • We value diversity and inclusion.
  • We honor our longstanding pledge to environmental sustainability.

Our ESG strategy encompasses our mission, vision, and values and guides the integration of sustainability into our core business operations. It honors our pledge to keep patients at the center of everything we do, which is evidenced by the fact that BMS has an exceptionally strong record in R&D, being recognized for one of the highest R&D investments as a share of revenue across all industries. In 2022, we invested $11.4 billion in R&D.

In 2022, the world continues to endure the impacts of the COVID-19. Recognizing the ongoing effects of the gap between available resources and patients’ unmet needs, Bristol Myers Squibb and GRYT Health are maintaining support for advocacy organizations, patients and industry in the exchange of information through The Advocacy Exchange, which was launched in 2020 to address the urgent needs that arose from the pandemic. Now the largest cross-disease, cross cultural advocacy initiative of its kind in healthcare, the Advocacy Exchange reached more than 59,000 people in 120 countries, offering more than 700 free resources.

Also still being felt are the repercussions from the events in 2020 that highlighted the serious challenges facing the Black/African American community and the persistent health disparities that leave under- resourced communities at greater risk of poor health outcomes. Over the past two years, teams across our organization have coalesced to dismantle some of the toughest challenges in our industry in diversity, inclusion and health equity. We are making progress toward meeting the BMS commitments to diversity and inclusion and health equity. Also, we maintained a partnership with historically black colleges and universities to create and sustain a pipeline of diverse talent. Also in 2022, we published our second report detailing how BMS drives equitable advancement and outcomes for all, called Leading with our Value of Inclusion.

Our teams continue working tirelessly to increase diversity in clinical trials. In 2021, 54% of U.S. clinical trial sites were located in highly diverse communities, exceeding our goal of 25 percent by 2022. Our strong emphasis on inclusion and diversity for our workforce has led to participation by over 12,200 employees in 44 countries across our eight People and Business Resource Groups (PBRGs). These groups represent women, African-American, Latino/Hispanic, Asian-  American, Millennial, differently-abled and lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender (LGBT)  employees, as well as those who are U.S. Veterans.

Through the efforts of our PBRGs, we introduced a set of transgender guidelines in the U.S. and Canada to ensure a respectful and inclusive workplace environment for employees in the process of gender transition. All our work workplace policies can be found on our website.

BMS supports the TGNC community both internally and externally in many ways, including by implementing Trans Inclusive Guidelines to help colleagues and teams navigate the transition process; including gender-affirming healthcare in our benefits offerings; actively recruiting trans and other LGBTQ individuals into our workforce; purchasing from LGBTQ-owned businesses; actively supporting the trans social justice movement including sponsorship of local and national organizations; and working with allied health organizations to combat health disparities experienced by the LGBTQ+ community.

Our Strategic Sourcing & Procurement (SS&P) division actively seeks out, nurtures and supports a base of partners and suppliers that helps us drive our commitment to Supplier Diversity and has helped us build trusted, strategic relationships with businesses owned by minorities, women, veterans, LGBT, the disabled and other diverse populations. By the end of 2021, we spent $899 million with diverse businesses in pursuit of our goal to spend $1 billion globally by 2025 with Black/African American and other diverse-owned businesses.

In 2022, BMS led a series of educational workshops focused on Sustainability and ESG with 50 Black/African American women-owned businesses. We entered into the ENERGIZE partnership to provide no-cost education and advisory services for Renewable Energy to all of our suppliers and with GoodR to support efforts toward SDG 2, No Hunger. We provide financial as well as hands-on support with GoodR to combat food insecurity in the communities where we work, where we run clinical trials and where we attend industry conferences. Finally, we held a Supplier Sustainability Summit to bring together our SS&P teams with our suppliers and internal and external subject matter experts to discuss issues and identify opportunities to partner on all matters related to Sustainability and ESG.

The company maintains both representation on the board and an overall leadership position within our membership in the Pharmaceutical Supply Chain Initiative (PSCI), which promotes Principles for Responsible Supply Chain Management among our suppliers and capacity building in developing countries. We annually revise and post our Slavery and Human Trafficking Statement addressing measures taken to tackle slavery and human trafficking, which are responsive to global legislation, including the United Kingdom’s Modern Slavery Act of 2015 and the California Transparency in Supply Chains Act of 2010. In 2021, we published our first Modern Slavery Act statement in alignment with the  Australian Border Force.

As trucking and human trafficking are a point of intersection, we continue our collaboration with Truckers Against Trafficking , started in 2019, to help stop this atrocity.  The intention of the training is for our partners to educate their drivers on how to identify Human Trafficking victims and how to alert authorities of suspected activity. As part of BMS’s Social Responsibility and Corporate Sustainability commitments, we are asking our suppliers to commit to this important initiative and in 2020, we held our first formal event in collaboration with Truckers Against Trafficking and NJ Representative Christopher Smith (R) to recognize Human Trafficking Awareness Month and we recognized the US Anti-Human Trafficking Month in January 2021 through virtual engagement of our employees. Also in 2021, our Law Department partnered with one of our preferred law firm partners on a virtual, anti-human trafficking law clinic as part of the department’s Day of Service. In January 2022, we launched a global communication campaign and developed a CLE training workshop for our global Legal department which will be held in January, 2023 as part of our commitment to recognize Human Trafficking Awareness Month within the US. The BMS team contributed to the development of a global compendium of key human trafficking and modern slavery laws, focusing on Belize, Zambia and South Africa. The compendium chapters are made available to NGOs, governments, prosecutors, community members, victims, and public interest lawyers at no cost. This event extended our internal education about human rights issues, sustaining the momentum behind our support for Anti-Human Trafficking efforts around the world.

Over the past year, the independent charitable organization, the Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation continued its work to advance health equity focused on patients most at risk of suffering the impacts of serious diseases in the regions of the world that are hardest hit. The Foundation empowers partners to build innovative systemic solutions to improve access, quality, and outcomes for patients. It is addressing cancer, cardiovascular disease, and auto-immune disease in the United States, and highly prevalent cancers in nine countries in Africa, Brazil and China. In December 2021, an outcome of the Foundation’s decades-long initiative called SECURE THE FUTURE was that Botswana was recognized by the World Health Organization as the first country with a high HIV burden to effectively eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV. Hitting this milestone means that this small nation with a large percentage of the population living with HIV (estimated to be 20%) can now look confidently at raising an AIDS-free generation. Another significant milestone was reached in 2022 in the country of Lesotho, which, due to decades-long support by the Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation, was able to provide cancer treatment within the country for the first time.

The BMS Foundation has achieved several milestones in the program it announced in 2020 to address the lack of diversity in clinical trials in the U.S. The five-year, $100+ million program, called the Robert A. Winn Diversity in Clinical Trial Award Program, has begun training the first two cohorts of clinical investigators who are racially and ethnically diverse or who have demonstrated commitment to increasing diversity in clinical trials. Also, it welcomed the first cohort of medical students from groups underrepresented in medicine into a summer internship program. Together with its administrative partner, the Virginia Commonwealth University and curriculum partner, the American Association for Cancer Research, the BMS Foundation aims to train at least 290 new clinical trial investigators and expose at least 290 promising underrepresented minority medical students to clinical research career pathways by 2027. The ultimate goal of the program is to engage a patient population in clinical trials that mirrors the epidemiology of the disease being studied.

Innovation and collaboration are at the core of our mission to create safe, economical, and sustainable processes to supply high-quality active ingredients for the medicines we deliver to patients. We partner with external companies and academic institutions to invent and develop new capabilities, which both accelerate our development of new solutions and improve our sustainability footprint. Environmental fate/effects studies and Environmental Risk Assessments (ERAs) are conducted for all new medicines when applying for approval, in accordance with local regulations. We are committed to transparency in reporting the environmental data we collect and have made information related to APIs available to the public through various partnership initiatives (e.g., iPiE*SUM, FASS database) and on our product Safety Data Sheets. Additionally, shifts in our portfolio to certain biologics (e.g., monoclonal antibodies) have produced new medicines that more readily biodegrade in the environment, further reducing impacts related to PiE.

In 2021, BMS was the recipient of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Green Chemistry Challenge Award for Greener Reaction Conditions. BMS received the award in recognition for developing a new class of sustainable reagents that can be applied to a range of applications, including nucleotide chemistry, a growing area of drug development. The new reagent platform bypasses the traditional approach, reducing solvent and reagent use and improving the stability of the reagents and intermediates, making them safer to use. The innovation also eliminates the need for carbon footprint- intensive cold storage, required by the current approach. Through our "Green by Design" approach we have achieved broad reductions in waste across the small molecule portfolio, including a 49% average cPMI reduction across 9 projects across the last 2 years, eliminating >900 MT waste.

In addition to our internal-facing projects, BMS is actively engaged with the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA), a federation which represents the biopharmaceutical industry operating in Europe. Through its direct membership of 36 national associations, 39 leading pharmaceutical companies and a growing number of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), EFPIA’s mission is to create a collaborative environment that enables our members to innovate, discover, develop, and deliver new therapies and vaccines for people across Europe, as well as contribute to the European economy.

We continue our collaboration with the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) in Europe, a public-private partnership between the European Union and the European pharmaceutical industry. Bristol Myers Squibb took a leading role in an IMI project called iPiE, Intelligence-led Assessment of Pharmaceuticals in the Environment, and in 2021 co-led the effort to develop a private-public partnership called the Innovative Health Initiative. This important research is supporting our planet by advancing the science around pharmaceuticals in the environment.  BMS is currently participating in the Prioritization and Risk Evaluation of Medicines in the IMI EnviRonment (PREMIER) initiative, which seeks to foster greener pharmaceutical design processes in addition to improving the availability of environmental data for all stakeholders.

BMS is also a member of the Sustainable Medicines Partnership (SMP), a not-for-profit, private-public, multi-stakeholder collaboration of 42 organizations across leading pharma, generics and retail medicine manufacturers, packagers, distributors, supply chain, technology healthcare, hospitals pharmacy researchers, academia, policy and changemakers. The goal of the collaboration is to make healthcare more equitable and sustainable, with a focus on reducing waste of medicines and waste from medicines. The Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) in Europe, a public-private research partnership between the European Union and leading companies within the pharmaceutical industry.

At BMS, we strive to ensure that operations at our facilities are both environmentally responsible and protective of personal and public health and safety, starting by designing clean and efficient manufacturing processes, and routinely assessing existing facility operations. We establish safe discharge concentrations for our internal/external manufacturing processes that assess potential environmental impacts and identify ways to minimize any potential environmental or human health impacts from discharge. BMS works with numerous suppliers and third-party manufacturers who share our commitment to responsible practices, including compliance with all applicable legal and regulatory requirements, as well as our Standards of Business Conduct and Ethics for Third Parties (3P Standards).

Across the globe Bristol Myers Squibb is committed to being a responsible global citizen with respect to the environment. At the end of 2020, we embarked on a journey toward achieving a set of ambitious  commitments towards environmental responsibility.  In 2022, we sent a commitment letter to the  Science Based Targets initiative with intent to submit targets for validation within 24 months. By applying ESG principles across our product life cycle, we are fundamentally redefining how we grow our business and deliver medicines. As we drive efficiencies across our value chain to reduce GHG emissions, water, and waste use, we are also delivering on our financial goals. Our efforts were recognized on the Forbes Green Growth 50 list of U.S.-based companies that have reduced GHG emissions while growing earnings.

We continue our US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Treasure Hunt program. The program has been rolled out across 14 facilities worldwide to identify opportunities to reduce energy and water consumption, minimize the generation of carbon emissions and waste. To date, just under 500 participants have identified hundreds of opportunities that were a focus of site efforts in 2021. The efforts in 2021 have further contributed to significant savings, with a current program ROI of >$12 million. In 2021, the BMS Executive Leadership Team and Board of Directors authorized our first large-scale renewable energy supply contract (closed in April 2022). This is a first, and a key step toward our goal of 100% of purchased electricity from renewable sources by 2030. In addition, more than $2.3 million in funding was approved to support site-based projects across the BMS enterprise to drive increase in energy efficiency and reduction of GHG emissions.

Bristol Myers Squibb received an Energy Star Partner of the Year Award in 2022, giving us eight consecutive years of recognition. For the fifth consecutive year, we earned the distinction of Sustained Partner Status from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for our comprehensive policies and programs to manage energy use at our facilities worldwide. As members of the US Department of Energy Better Plants Challenge, we committed to reduce our Energy Intensity by 20% within 10 years. After the first five years, we have achieved a reduction of 15.23% and this year increased our commitment from the “Partner” level to the “Challenge” level. Also in 2021, our manufacturing facility in Humacao, Puerto Rico once again received the US EPA Energy Star Challenge for Industry.

We focused on our commitment to the Department of Energy Better Plants Waste Reduction pilot program, identifying opportunities across our network for a ‘green return to work’. We report our third- party verified (limited assurance) CO2 emissions, waste, and water data through the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) and increased our effort to assess our carbon footprint from suppliers by participating in the Pharmaceutical Supply Chain Initiative (PSCI)-supported EcoDesk 3rd Party Survey in addition to the CDP Supply Chain Initiative survey. In 2021, we entered into a collaboration with EcoVadis and expanded our Responsible Sourcing Program, both of which were formally launched in 2022. We expanded our partnership with CarbonFund.org, once again enabling a carbon emission-neutral Global Leadership Team meeting and offsetting >25% of the emissions from our 2021 global employee travel. Our annual contribution provides support of a Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD+) program in the Amazonian Basin.

In 2019, we opened our first zero-waste-to-landfill manufacturing site in Cruiserath, Ireland. This state-of-the-art LEED Silver biologics manufacturing facility established a zero to landfill waste policy from the very start of operations and developed an extensive waste management program to ensure the highest rate of reuse and recycling is achieved. In 2022, the site continues to operate on 100% green energy, provides on-site inactivation of biohazardous waste, and has a modified wastewater treatment plant that removes >95% of carbon from the process water.

Managing our global facilities responsibly enables us to further reduce our environmental impact and ensure our buildings are inclusive for all. Accordingly, when we construct new facilities or retrofit old ones, we do so with a long-term view— utilizing sustainable construction practices, incorporating state- of-the-art efficiencies, and applying universal design principles.

A synergy of these elements can be seen in the company’s Moreton, UK, facility. Building 5, situated on the 12-acre R&D site located between Chester and Liverpool recently was named one of the top four buildings in England and Wales for energy performance. Moreover, it is the only one of the top four that is occupied and air conditioned.  We are planning a new, multi-million dollar building at the site, and outstanding energy performance is just one aspect of sustainability to be built into every facet. The new building is planned to be 60% bigger than the one it will replace, and yet use 68% less energy. Solar photovoltaic panels will supplement the power, along with a ground source heat pump and system to convert thermal energy to electricity.

While the building is planned to have zero greenhouse gas emissions and reduce energy costs by as much as 82%, its surrounding site is planned to save water, resist flooding, and provide an environment that promotes wellness. A balancing pond that drains to the local river will have reed beds that help clean the water and native plantings that provide a biodiverse scent and sensory palette. Special care will be taken to ensure that waste is fully treated before flowing into the balancing pond. Also, the surface of the parking area will be permeable to maximize the absorption of water into the ground.

In 2021, BMS revised our criteria for sustainable facility design which went into operation in 2022. These criteria call for new facilities to be designed to meet or exceed LEED Silver standards—and may also consider BREEAM qualifications—both of which enable us to maintain our commitment to healthy, efficient, carbon- and cost-saving green buildings. And in alignment with our commitment to employee health, safety and wellness, BMS has committed to the adoption of universal design to help ensure our buildings are accessible. This includes designing things to be flexible and to account for the vast diversity of people’s skills, knowledge and needs. To meet these standards, our buildings must adhere to stringent criteria, which drive us to:

  • Optimize energy efficiency, including by engaging in energy life cycle assessments and identifying opportunities to use alternate fuel sources
  • Minimize water use, including through use-modeling and water balance maps, and by identifying opportunities to reuse, repurpose and recycle water
  • Minimize waste and eliminate waste to landfill, including by rerouting maintenance, demolition and construction waste; adding waste management expectations to supplier contracts; and auditing packing to drive the transition to reusable, recoverable and/or recyclable materials
  • Support the transition to zero-emission vehicles through our EV charging station program framework
  • Implemented a program to systematically ensure removal of all virgin plastics from our U.S. cafeterias and cafes.

Impact from this work is visible across our network. BMS currently manages an on-site EV charging network consisting of 155 EV charging points and more than 500 subscribers across 10 U.S. sites. Our 2021 solar photovoltaic (PV) footprint includes PV arrays installed at three New Jersey locations, as well as locations in China and the U.K. The PV arrays carry a maximum output of nearly 3.4 MW, which is equivalent to the energy needed to power more than 300 homes.

Twenty BMS sites (100% of those that are eligible) are participating in the ENERGY STAR Challenge for Industry. The challenge is a global call to action for industrial sites to reduce their energy intensity by 10% within five years. The Princeton Pike site earned ENERGY STAR Certification in 2021 for the fourth  year in a row. Nassau Park also showed continued improvement during the year and is on track to earn ENERGY STAR certification soon. Additionally, BMS is the sole tenant of an ENERGY STAR- certified facility located in Tampa, Florida. At the annual ENERGY STAR Industrial Partners Meeting in November 2021, BMS received Top Project recognition for our Lawrenceville, New Jersey, Cogeneration Project. And in 2021, our major U.S. sites in Massachusetts, New York and New Jersey held virtual lighting fairs. These events reached thousands of employees with the opportunity to learn about ENERGY STAR-certified LED light bulbs and purchase them at a discounted price.

Since the inception of our Water Compass Project in 2017, we’ve completed systematic reviews of 13 key pharmaceutical manufacturing and R&D facilities in 6 countries worldwide for potential water and wastewater risks (including resource availability and impact). With >200 participants involved, we were able to document >60 model practices and identify >150 opportunities. In 2021 we initiated implementation of the roadmap designed in 2020 to expedite the implementation of prioritize opportunities as well as the review of manufacturing and R&D sites incorporated into our network through the acquisition of Celgene.

BMS’ Distribution and Logistics teams, which are responsible for storing and distributing the company’s products, continually seek opportunities to reduce waste, conserve energy and reduce carbon emissions. We have fully outsourced our logistics operation and uses service providers for warehousing and transportation. As sustainability is embedded into our approach to supplier management, we actively review scoring of environmental responsibility criteria during the vendor selection process. Once selected, we work proactively with our partners to incorporate actions that improve the environmental footprint for transportation of our products.

Whether ground, air or ocean, the mode of transport of our products plays a meaningful role in developing our transportation plans. Wherever it is feasible and makes sense, we move from air to ocean transport, which significantly cuts carbon emissions, and utilize vendors who provide more efficient ground transportation. Some are even beginning to offer electric fleet vehicles, like in Brazil where we have reduced by 93kg the CO2 emissions during the first month of implementation. In 2022, we expect to continue our commitment to sustainability with further reductions in carbon dioxide emissions, such as with the transition from RKN active shipping containers to thermal blankets, potentially saving up to 25 kg of CO2e per insulated pallet, as well as landfill waste reductions.  Additional KPIs include:

  • Reduced CO2 emissions by 33% with implementation of new shipping container in two key shipping lanes
  • 100% reduction in Sulphur Oxide, 91% reduction in Nitrogen Oxide, and 29% reduction in Carbon Dioxide through the conversion of barges to ocean vessels powered by Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) between the U.S & Puerto Rico
  • Reduced CO2 emissions by ~ 70% by converting from air to ocean mode for vendor shipments to Puerto Rico
  • 3 Ton carbon emissions reduction in Argentina due to alignment of product order size and shipping container capacity

All of our products are shipped in temperature-controlled containers. Our biology-based therapies require cold-chain transport and must remain at a constant temperature (2-8 degrees C) from the time they leave the manufacturing facility to when they reach the patient. That’s why we ship these almost exclusively in battery-operated refrigerated pallet-sized containers that are completely reusable. When we have smaller, parcel-sized shipments, we use passive refrigeration in insulated shipper boxes with gel-pack inserts. Currently, we use reusable parcel containers in Puerto Rico, Mexico and Canada and plan to expand their use in other markets where possible in coming months. Ultimately, bolstering our supply chain’s reliability, agility and sustainability is a priority for us, and we will continue to work with vendors who share our commitment to continuing to reduce our transportation-related environmental impacts.

In 2021, our Global Go Green employee-led initiative held virtual global Earth Day, Earth Hour, Energy Conservation and Recycling celebrations to continue to engage employees and support efforts to protect the environment at work and at home. Bristol Myers Squibb employees around the world demonstrated their commitment by participating in a range of activities from establishing on-site sustainable organic gardens and beehives to planting trees to recycling materials and cleaning greenways and watershed areas with the goal of building awareness about conservation of energy and water. The initiative has also facilitated the creation of ride-share and alternative transportation functions to reduce the environmental impact of employee commuting.

As we maintained laboratory operations during the pandemic, our Green Labs certification program, which encourages employees to reduce the environmental impact of their work, including energy, water, and waste, continued to grow, with nearly 600 labs certified (92% of all labs within the BMS facilities are now participating). In addition, during 2021, we developed the framework for both our Zero-Waste-To- Landfill site program and our Green Office certification program, with input from employees across our global enterprise.  In 2022 we will be launching these programs at select sites across the network, in support of our ‘Green Return to Work’ initiative.

Many BMS employees are passionate about reducing their environmental impact, including participants in our Cultivating Leadership and Innovation for Millennials and Beyond (CLIMB) PBRG. In 2021, CLIMB partnered with the Corporate Sustainability Team to launch a Sustainability Calendar Challenge, which encouraged employees to prioritize wellbeing and environmental stewardship. During the 12- month challenge, employees tracked progress toward specific goals through a mobile app. CLIMB also partnered with Grow-a-Row, an organization that provides fresh produce to food deserts in the U.S., and in 2021, CLIMB members, along with other local volunteers, handpicked 9,600 pounds of corn (38,000 servings) and 2,650 pounds of tomatoes (10,600 servings) at the Grow-a-Row farm in New Jersey. Their work facilitated access to fresh and healthy food to support communities where BMS operates.

In Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, employees implemented reduction of waste generation in the facility’s dining areas, including the implementation of a no-plastics policy and a robust recycling program for cardboard, paper, newspaper, aluminum, and key plastics. In Rome, Italy, employees partnered with Treedom, a company that stands out for directly financing small agro-forestry projects and providing environmental and social benefits. The five-year project involves planting 2,500 trees in Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America by 2025. And in Steinhausen, Switzerland, employees held an engagement workshop with Zero Waste Switzerland and introduced employee education to drive increased awareness of actions each individual can take to minimize consumption of natural resources. They also led an EV Ride & Drive event with test drives and organized exclusive e-bike discounts from local stores to promote sustainable commuting.

The Principles of Integrity -- our Standards of Business Conduct and Ethics for Employees provide a common framework for how we conduct business, interact with our colleagues, and serve our patients. Annual training on our Standards of Business Conduct and Ethics, which includes a section on Anti- Corruption is required for all employees.  Additionally, we actively participate in many industry associations with the stated goal of enhancing global anti-corruption awareness and improved industry conduct. Examples include PSCI, IFPMA, EFPIA, and PhRMA, of which Dr. Caforio, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Bristol Myers Squibb, served as chairman of the board of directors in 2020.

We are members of a consortia of biopharmaceutical and pharmaceutical companies who worked with the Norges Bank to create the Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM) guidance for corporate Anti- Corruption. In addition, we participated as members of the IFPMA ESG Working Group to craft a white paper providing a Biopharmaceutical Industry ESG proposal for Demonstrating Value and Engendering Trust Through Ethics and Business Integrity Indicators. This proposal was presented to the Biopharmaceutical CEO Roundtable (BCR) in December 2021 where it was approved and is being used  to drive constructive discussions with key ESG stakeholders in 2022.

The Bristol Myers Squibb website (bms.com) contains additional information about our policies, goals and progress relevant to the U.N. Global Compact, as well as our Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility programs. These resources include our 2021 ESG  Report.

Below is a list of the 21 Criteria identified for implementation of the 10 U.N. Global Compact principles and a table that identifies the relevant content from our website and the public domain.

Bristol Myers Squibb UN Global Compact Communication on Progress 2022

Bristol Myers Squibb is a participant of the United Nations Global Compact, which is the world’s largest corporate citizenship and sustainability initiative.

Bristol Myers Squibb joined the U.N. Global Compact in December 2010 and each year we further integrate its principles encompassing Human Rights, Labor, Environment and Anti-Corruption across our company. Our commitment to the U.N. Global Compact is available to all employees and to the public on our company website.

The Bristol Myers Squibb website (bms.com) contains additional information about our policies, goals and progress relevant to the U.N. Global Compact, as well as our Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility programs. Below is a list of the 21 Criteria identified for implementation of the 10 U.N. Global Compact principles and a table that identifies the relevant content from our website and the public domain.

Implementing the ten principles into strategies and operations

 
Criterion 1: The COP describes mainstreaming into corporate functions and business units

Place responsibility for execution of sustainability strategy in relevant corporate functions (procurement, government affairs, human resources, legal, etc) ensuring no function conflicts with company’s sustainability commitments and objectives

Align strategies, goals and incentive structures of all business units and subsidiaries with corporate sustainability strategy

Ensure that different corporate functions coordinate closely to maximize performance and avoid unintended negative impacts
Criterion 2: The COP describes value chain implementation

Communicate policies and expectations to suppliers and other relevant business partners

Implement monitoring and assurance mechanisms (e.g. audits/screenings) for compliance within the company’s sphere of influence

 

Undertake awareness-raising, training and other types of capacity building with suppliers and other business partners

 

Robust Human Rights Management Policies & Procedures

Criterion 3: The COP describes robust commitments, strategies or policies in the area of human rights

Commitment to comply with all applicable laws and respect internationally recognized human rights, wherever the company operates (e.g., the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Guiding Principles on Human Rights) (BRE1 + ARE1)

Integrated or stand-alone statement of policy expressing commitment to respect and support human rights approved at the most senior level of the company (BRE 1 + BRE5 + ARE 1 + ARE 5)

Statement of policy publicly available and communicated internally and externally to all personnel, business partners and other relevant parties (BRE 1 + BRE 5 + ARE 1 + ARE 5)

Criterion 4: The COP describes effective management systems to integrate the human rights principles

On-going due diligence process that includes an assessment of actual and potential human rights impacts (BRE 2 + BRE 3 + ARE 2 + ARE 3)

Internal awareness-raising and training on human rights for management and employees

Allocation of responsibilities and accountability for addressing human rights impacts

Process and programs in place to support human rights through: core business; strategic philanthropic/social investment; public policy engagement/advocacy; partnerships and/or other forms of collective action (BRE 6 + ARE 6)

Criterion 5: The COP describes effective monitoring and evaluation mechanisms of human rights integration

Any relevant policies, procedures and activities that the company plans to undertake to fulfill this criterion, including goals, timelines, metrics and responsible staff

System to monitor the effectiveness of human rights policies and implementation with quantitative and qualitative metrics, including in the supply chain (BRE3 + ARE3

Robust Labour Management Policies & Procedures

Criterion 6: The COP describes robust commitments, strategies or policies in the area of labour

Reference to principles of relevant international labour standards (ILO Conventions) and other normative international instruments in company policies

Inclusion of reference to the principles contained in the relevant international labour standards in contracts with suppliers and other relevant business partners

Specific commitments and Human Resources policies, in line with national development priorities or decent work priorities in the country of operation

Criterion 7: The COP describes effective management systems to integrate the labour principles

Risk and impact assessments in the area of labour

Internal awareness-raising and training on the labour principles for management and employees

Grievance mechanisms, communication channels and other procedures (e.g., whistleblower mechanisms) available for workers to report concerns, make suggestions or seek advice, designed and operated in agreement with the representative organization of workers

Criterion 8: The COP describes effective monitoring and evaluation mechanisms of labour principles integration

Audits or other steps to monitor and improve the working conditions of companies in the supply chain, in line with principles of international labour standards

Process to positively engage with the suppliers to address the challenges (i.e., partnership approach instead of corrective approach) through schemes to improve workplace practices

Robust Environmental Management Policies & Procedures

Criterion 9: The COP describes robust commitments, strategies or policies in the area of environmental stewardship

Reflection on the relevance of environmental stewardship for the company

 

Written company policy on environmental stewardship

Inclusion of minimum environmental standards in contracts with suppliers and other relevant business partners

Specific commitments and goals for specified years

Criterion 10: The COP describes effective management systems to integrate the environmental principle

Environmental risk and impact assessments

Assessments of lifecycle impact of products, ensuring environmentally sound management policies

Allocation of responsibilities and accountability within the organisation

Criterion 11: The COP describes effective monitoring and evaluation mechanisms for environmental stewardship

System to track and measure performance based on standardized performance metrics

Leadership review of monitoring and improvement results

Process to deal with incidents

Audits or other steps to monitor and improve the environmental performance of companies in the supply chain

Robust Anti-Corruption Management Policies & Procedure

Criterion 12: The COP describes robust commitments, strategies or policies in the area of anti-corruption

Publicly stated formal policy of zero-tolerance of corruption (D1)

Commitment to be in compliance with all relevant anti-corruption laws, including the implementation of procedures to know the law and monitor changes(B2)

Policy on anti-corruption regarding business partners (D5)

 

Criterion 13: The COP describes effective management systems to integrate the anti-corruption principle

Support by the organization’s leadership for anti-corruption (B4)

Human Resources procedures supporting the anti-corruption commitment or policy, including communication to and training for all employees (B5 + D8)

Internal checks and balances to ensure consistency with the anti-corruption commitment (B6)

Actions taken to encourage business partners to implement anti-corruption commitments (D6)

Management responsibility and accountability for implementation of the anti-corruption commitment or policy (D7)

Communications (whistleblowing) channels and follow-up mechanisms for reporting concerns or seeking advice (D9)

Criterion 14: The COP describes effective monitoring and evaluation mechanisms for the integration of anticorruption

Process to deal with incidents (D13)

 

Taking Action in Support of Broader UN Goals and Issues

Criterion 15: The COP describes core business contributions to UN goals and issues

Align core business strategy with one or more relevant UN goals/issues

Develop relevant products and services or design business models that contribute to UN goals/issues

Adopt and modify operating procedures to maximize contribution to UN goals/issues

Criterion 16: The COP describes strategic social investments and philanthropy

Pursue social investments and philanthropic contributions that tie in with the core competencies or operating context of the company as an integrated part of its sustainability strategy

Criterion 17: The COP describes advocacy and public policy engagement

Publicly advocate the importance of action in relation to one or more UN goals/issues

Commit company leaders to participate in key summits, conferences, and other important public policy interactions in relation to one or more UN goals/issues

Criterion 18: The COP describes partnerships and collective action

Develop and implement partnership projects with public or private organizations (UN entities, government, NGOs, or other groups) on core business, social investments and/or advocacy

Join industry peers, UN entities and/or other stakeholders in initiatives contributing to solving common challenges and dilemmas at the global and/or local levels with an emphasis on initiatives extending the company’s positive impact on its value chain

 

Corporate Sustainability Governance and Leadership

Criterion 19: The COP describes CEO commitment and leadership

CEO publicly delivers explicit statements and demonstrates personal leadership on sustainability and commitment to the UN Global Compact

CEO promotes initiatives to enhance sustainability of the company’s sector and leads development of industry standards

CEO leads executive management team in development of corporate sustainability strategy, defining goals and overseeing implementation

Criterion 20: The COP describes Board adoption and oversight

Board of Directors (or equivalent) assumes responsibility and oversight for long-term corporate sustainability strategy and performance

 

Board establishes, where permissible, a committee or assigns an individual board member with responsibility for corporate sustainability.

Criterion 21: The COP describes stakeholder engagement

Publicly recognize responsibility for the company’s impacts on internal and external stakeholders

Consult stakeholders in dealing with implementation dilemmas and challenges and invite them to take active part in reviewing performance

Establish channels to engage with employees and other stakeholders to hear their ideas and address their concerns, and protect ‘whistle-blowers’