In today’s sustainability landscape, reducing Scope 3 emissions—those indirect emissions from a company’s value chain—is crucial. These emissions often represent the most significant portion of a company’s carbon footprint and are challenging to address. As global companies strive to cut these emissions, they must collaborate effectively with suppliers and partners while maintaining commercial value across their supply chains.
For a company like Thermo Fisher Scientific, which operates a vast network of partners, suppliers, distributors, and customers, tackling Scope 3 emissions involves identifying, measuring, and influencing reductions across the supply chain. Thermo Fisher, a leader in serving science and healthcare, has made sustainability a cornerstone of its mission, with key figures such as Chris Shanahan (VP Global Sustainability Supply Chain), Alyssa Caddle (Director Procurement Sustainability), and Matthew Yamatin (Sustainability Program Director) driving these initiatives.
Thermo Fisher’s sustainability strategy
As a global leader in science, Thermo Fisher is dedicated to enabling its customers to make the world healthier, cleaner, and safer. Given this mission, sustainability is naturally a significant focus. The company’s approach to environmental sustainability is structured around three main pillars: Climate, Nature, and Greener by Design™.
Climate: Thermo Fisher has set an ambitious target to reach net zero emissions by 2050. This involves reducing carbon emissions by moving away from fossil fuels, accelerating the adoption of renewable electricity, and engaging with suppliers to drive sustainability across the supply chain. Alyssa explains, "Our environmental sustainability strategy is designed to support our customers, making climate a key element of our overall corporate social responsibility (CSR) efforts. We are committed to enabling our customers' success, including in their sustainability objectives."
Nature: The focus here is on waste and water management. Thermo Fisher has developed specific targets, such as assessing water usage in water-scarce regions and achieving certified zero waste at 30 of its facilities by 2025. "Waste and water management are critical components of our sustainability strategy," says Matthew. "We’re working towards significant milestones in these areas, which will contribute to our broader environmental goals."
Greener by Design™: This initiative integrates sustainable design principles into Thermo Fisher’s products and services. Matthew notes, "Greener by Design is about embedding sustainability into everything we do. We’re actively pursuing strategies like using lower-carbon materials, such as biobased plastics, implementing recycling solutions, enabling our products to be shipped at ambient temperatures, and fostering a more circular approach in our operations."
By focusing on these three pillars, Thermo Fisher is not only meeting its sustainability goals but also helping its customers achieve theirs. Alyssa adds, "When we discuss environmental sustainability within our broader strategy—which also includes social and governance aspects—we’re leading by example. We’re taking what we’ve learned in the environmental space and applying it to other areas, ensuring that our sustainability efforts are comprehensive and impactful."
Supply chain sustainability solutions
Thermo Fisher’s extensive portfolio, ranging from laboratory products to clinical trials and contract manufacturing, requires close collaboration with customers to develop sustainability solutions that are both impactful and achievable. The company’s approach involves working upstream with suppliers to identify opportunities that can be brought forward to customers, helping them meet their sustainability goals.
Matthew explains, "Developing effective sustainability solutions means engaging with our suppliers to understand what possibilities exist and how we can bring those forward to our customers. Each customer’s needs are unique, and we tailor our solutions to meet those specific needs."
For some customers, a key strategy for decarbonisation might involve incorporating renewable energy into clinical trials, while for others, it might be the use of biobased resins instead of fossil-based materials. Thermo Fisher recognises that its customers are at different stages in their sustainability journeys, and the company’s role is to meet them where they are.
Chris points out, "We have customers who are very advanced in their sustainability thinking—they understand what’s achievable and are realistic about what can be done. On the other hand, some customers are just starting out, and part of our role is to educate them. We’re transparent with our customers, just as we are with our suppliers and internal teams. This transparency is a commitment we all share."
As a global company with a complex network of supply partners spread across various regions, Thermo Fisher faces diverse regulatory and reporting requirements. For many companies, including Thermo Fisher, the value chain accounts for more than 90% of their total emissions.
"We spent the first year or so tracking our Scope 3 emissions to gain insights into our most significant relationships and to understand how we could approach them differently—not just in terms of spend, but also in terms of how they contribute to our emissions profile," Alyssa explains.
Like many organisations, Thermo Fisher uses carbon accounting to guide its sustainability efforts, helping the company understand and segment its supply chain. Alyssa continues, "Understanding the climate literacy of our suppliers was the next step. We needed to get out there, have meaningful conversations, collect information, and meet suppliers where they are. It’s crucial to understand their challenges, especially when we ask them to adopt new practices or meet specific requirements."
Within its complex network of suppliers, partners, customers, and distributors, Thermo Fisher sometimes finds itself learning from those who are further along in their sustainability journeys. In other cases, the company shares its expertise and best practices to help others advance. "As a manufacturer, we have valuable experience in our own decarbonisation efforts," Alyssa says. "We’re eager to share what we’ve learned with our suppliers and provide them with real-world examples to guide their own efforts."
Reducing emissions in Scope 1 and 2
Thermo Fisher is also focused on reducing its direct emissions (Scope 1) and indirect emissions from purchased energy (Scope 2). The company has implemented two key strategies to achieve net-zero emissions in these areas: transitioning away from fossil fuels and accelerating the adoption of renewable electricity.
Leveraging its size and purchasing power, Thermo Fisher is working to increase the availability of renewable energy in the grid. This includes forging partnerships with renewable energy developers, particularly in the US and Spain. These partnerships secure the supply of renewable electricity for Thermo Fisher’s operations and support the broader development of renewable energy infrastructure.
Matthew explains, "In the US and Spain, we’ve created partnerships with renewable energy developers that provide long-term, stable business for these projects, sometimes spanning over a decade. This not only ensures a steady supply of renewable energy for our operations but also contributes to the expansion of renewable energy in these regions."
He adds, "At the end of the day, Scope 3 emissions are essentially everyone else’s Scope 1 and 2 emissions. If each company addresses its own Scope 1 and 2 emissions, we can collectively make a significant impact on Scope 3. This highlights the importance of partnerships and shared learning in driving meaningful change."
EY: A key strategic partner
One of Thermo Fisher’s key partners in its sustainability journey is EY. This partnership has been particularly valuable in preparing for the European Union’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). Chris Shanahan emphasises the importance of such collaborations, saying, "Partnerships are incredibly important, and EY has been a vital partner in helping us navigate the evolving regulatory landscape."
The CSRD, introduced in 2023, aims to modernise and strengthen the rules on social and environmental information that companies must report. Although Thermo Fisher is headquartered in the US, the company recognises the importance of understanding and engaging with European regulations due to its significant revenue streams in Europe.
EY has supported Thermo Fisher in assessing its readiness for the CSRD, including conducting a Double Materiality Assessment, which helps the company understand the impact of sustainability on its business and vice versa. This process has involved sifting through over 1,000 disclosure requirements and data points across 12 standards to determine what Thermo Fisher needs to report.
Chris reflects on the partnership, "The regulatory landscape is constantly changing, and it’s crucial to have thought partners like EY to help us understand what these changes mean for our business. With EY, we’ve been able to move from merely exploring new laws to understanding their implications and preparing to meet these new requirements."
In practical terms, the partnership has involved a gap analysis and a double materiality assessment, helping Thermo Fisher align its practices with the evolving regulatory environment. Chris notes, "We’re in a unique position where the playbook for implementing these sustainability practices is being written as we go. This process has been a learning experience for both us and EY, and the feedback loop has been incredibly constructive."
As Thermo Fisher continues to develop and refine its sustainability strategy, the company remains committed to fostering strong partnerships, supporting its customers, and championing sustainable practices throughout its supply chain. The journey toward sustainability is ongoing, but with a clear strategy and collaborative approach, Thermo Fisher is well-positioned to make a lasting impact.
