December 25, 2024

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Samsung Biologics’ promotional banners hung along the streets of the San Diego Convention Center (Samsung Biologics)

SAN DIEGO -- Samsung Biologics, the world’s largest contract development and manufacturing organization by production capacity, will join the global RE100 renewable energy initiative as early as next month, a source familiar with the matter said Wednesday.

Led by the Climate Group in partnership with CDP, formerly known as Carbon Disclosure Project, the RE100 initiative commits members to getting 100 percent of the electricity they use from renewable sources.

Among the 372 members of the RE100 as of Wednesday, 20 are in health care-related industries, including Eli Lilly and Pfizer.

Samsung Biologics will become the first CDMO to join the RE100 initiative.

The source, who wished to remain anonymous, told The Korea Herald that the decision will underline the company’s commitment to action against the climate crisis. The source declined to give a target year for achieving 100 percent renewable electricity. The furthest target year among the RE100 members is 2050.

“We are finding opportunities internally to reduce emissions in our operations and supply chains as well as implementing eco-friendly infrastructure as we expand,” a Samsung Biologics official said in an interview posted on the company’s website.

“We are also driving collective action on a global ecosystem scale by joining climate change initiatives such as RE100.”

No Samsung company has made any commitment to RE100 yet, whereas other Korean conglomerates such as Hyundai Motor Group and SK Group have joined the global initiative.

Samsung Biologics has shown willingness to reduce its environmental footprint and achieve sustainability in recent years.

The company has been taking part in the Sustainable Markets Initiative, which is led by the UK‘s Prince of Wales, as a representative of the global biopharmaceutical sector. The SMI aims to lower emissions across industries worldwide.

The CDMO giant became the country’s first and only bio company to take part in the CDP’s global environmental disclosure assessment last year, obtaining the “Management” level, which is the second-highest grade possible. Samsung Biologics also was the first Korean company in the life science sector to be added to the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index in November.

By Kan Hyeong-woo (hwkan@heraldcorp.com)