Teva Becomes First Pharmaceutical Company to Execute Sustainability-Linked Bond Tied to Both Climate and Access to Medicine Targets

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. announced ambitious commitments to address two of today’s greatest global crises—access to medicines and climate change—tied to its recently issued $5 billion sustainability-linked bond. The bond is linked to three targets, including a 25% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and a 150% increase in access to essential medicines for patients in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) by the end of 2025.

“A key part of our environmental, social and governance (ESG) efforts is helping the world in ways we’re uniquely positioned to deliver,” says Kåre Schultz, CEO of Teva. “For Teva, that means leveraging our extensive portfolio of essential medicines to expand access for patients in low- and middle-income countries, as well as engaging our global operations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This effort demonstrates Teva’s commitment to society and accelerates our impact.”

Teva is the only pharmaceutical company linking both social and environmental targets to a bond. In addition to the bond’s Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions targets, Teva recently announced a 2030 target to reduce Scope 3 GHG emissions by 25%. Together, these environmental targets aim to reduce emissions across Teva’s value chain in line with the Paris Climate Agreement. Teva’s novel access targets include a 150% increase in both the number of registrations and products provided through access programs in LMICs. The targets cover treatments on the World Health Organization’s Model List of Essential Medicines—of which Teva is the leading provider—driving access to the most efficacious, safe and cost-effective treatments.

Two second party opinions (SPO) validated Teva’s sustainability-linked financing framework. ISS ESG, the world’s leading provider of ESG solutions for shareholders, provided a positive SPO on the alignment of the framework with the International Capital Markets Association (ICMA) Sustainability-linked Bond Principles. The Access to Medicine Foundation, an independent non-profit organization focused on access in LMICs, provided the final SPO that covered the relevance, robustness and social benefit of Teva’s access targets.

Teva plans to report and verify externally its performance against each target in its annual ESG Progress Report.

Find additional information on this offering here.

Related posts

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.