4 Communicating About LCA and Product Carbon
Footprint in the Healthcare Sector
Novo Nordisk experiences an increasing interest in the environmental impact of
healthcare products from authorities, insurance companies, doctors and patients.
Novo Nordisk believes that stakeholders have the right to know about the environmental impact of the products. This was one of the reasons why Novo Nordisk
decided to map the carbon footprints across the diabetes portfolio.
The cross-organisational collaboration has been crucial in ensuring that the
extensive work on the mapping of product carbon footprints is also translated into
stories and messages that are understandable for non-experts.
Many LCA practitioners experience that it is difficult to communicate the relatively technical results of an LCA including the underlying assumptions. The
details of LCA conflict with the need for clear and short statements that can be
disseminated to a wide audience with no previous knowledge on product carbon
footprint. Translating the technical results into easy-to-understand messages
requires a close collaboration between environmental experts and communicators
and that both parties have the resources and willingness to listen and learn from
each other. This is a challenge that is common in many companies, and Novo
Nordisk is actively seeking sparring with other companies on this and other issues
related to the use of LCA in large companies. Novo Nordisk was one of four
initiators of a Danish LCA and ecodesign network consisting of representatives
from major companies and academia in Denmark working within the field of LCA.
The purpose of the network is to share knowledge and learn from each other with
focus on implementation of LCA in companies.
In Novo Nordisk, it became clear that communicating the specific carbon
footprint in kg CO 2 equivalent did not hold value for the target audiences as they
found it difficult to relate to this number. Therefore, we focus on comparisons with
other consumables. An example of a message that has resonated well with the target
groups is that daily diabetes treatment has a carbon footprint equivalent to a cup of
tea [3]. We also use comparisons like driving a car and air travel to put product
carbon footprints into perspective. It helps both internal and external stakeholders to
understand, remember and communicate the size of the footprint.
A comparison with competing products is not relevant, as this requires that the
carbon footprints are calculated using the same system boundaries and assumptions
and that we would have access to competitor production data. As a patent-driven
pharmaceutical company, most of our products are unique and therefore
product-to-product comparisons e.g. per unit of insulin are not relevant.
Communication to doctors and other healthcare professionals is in many
countries strictly regulated and marketing claims related to specific products must
be based on peer reviewed publications that documents the clinical efficiency of a
drug on the basis of clinical trials. There are no guidelines on the use of
92
N. H. Kløverpris
Footprint in the Healthcare Sector
Novo Nordisk experiences an increasing interest in the environmental impact of
healthcare products from authorities, insurance companies, doctors and patients.
Novo Nordisk believes that stakeholders have the right to know about the environmental impact of the products. This was one of the reasons why Novo Nordisk
decided to map the carbon footprints across the diabetes portfolio.
The cross-organisational collaboration has been crucial in ensuring that the
extensive work on the mapping of product carbon footprints is also translated into
stories and messages that are understandable for non-experts.
Many LCA practitioners experience that it is difficult to communicate the relatively technical results of an LCA including the underlying assumptions. The
details of LCA conflict with the need for clear and short statements that can be
disseminated to a wide audience with no previous knowledge on product carbon
footprint. Translating the technical results into easy-to-understand messages
requires a close collaboration between environmental experts and communicators
and that both parties have the resources and willingness to listen and learn from
each other. This is a challenge that is common in many companies, and Novo
Nordisk is actively seeking sparring with other companies on this and other issues
related to the use of LCA in large companies. Novo Nordisk was one of four
initiators of a Danish LCA and ecodesign network consisting of representatives
from major companies and academia in Denmark working within the field of LCA.
The purpose of the network is to share knowledge and learn from each other with
focus on implementation of LCA in companies.
In Novo Nordisk, it became clear that communicating the specific carbon
footprint in kg CO 2 equivalent did not hold value for the target audiences as they
found it difficult to relate to this number. Therefore, we focus on comparisons with
other consumables. An example of a message that has resonated well with the target
groups is that daily diabetes treatment has a carbon footprint equivalent to a cup of
tea [3]. We also use comparisons like driving a car and air travel to put product
carbon footprints into perspective. It helps both internal and external stakeholders to
understand, remember and communicate the size of the footprint.
A comparison with competing products is not relevant, as this requires that the
carbon footprints are calculated using the same system boundaries and assumptions
and that we would have access to competitor production data. As a patent-driven
pharmaceutical company, most of our products are unique and therefore
product-to-product comparisons e.g. per unit of insulin are not relevant.
Communication to doctors and other healthcare professionals is in many
countries strictly regulated and marketing claims related to specific products must
be based on peer reviewed publications that documents the clinical efficiency of a
drug on the basis of clinical trials. There are no guidelines on the use of
92
N. H. Kløverpris