The Scotsman Life Sciences Conference 2023 - a focus on sustainability

I had the pleasure of attending The Scotsman Annual Life Sciences Conference this week with my colleague Mairi Rudkin. 

In line with the theme of this year’s conference, many of the talks focussed on sustainability and decarbonisation within the life sciences sector, and highlighted the urgent need to adopt more sustainable practices and collectively work towards a net zero target. It was encouraging to hear from companies based in Scotland and the North East on the practices that they are implementing to tackle the challenges of decarbonisation and their commitment to deploying sustainable systems to reduce their net carbon footprint. 

One of the main challenges emphasised by biotech and pharmaceutical companies at the conference was implementing strategies and new approaches to reduce carbon emissions resulting from the manufacturing process (direct emissions) as well as indirect emissions resulting from the energy/electricity purchased and used by the company. However, in order to shift towards achieving net zero emissions, it was clear that reducing the direct and indirect emissions of the company alone are insufficient, and there is a need to implement changes at the level of the supply chain as well. 

Despite these challenges, it was promising to see companies based in Scotland showcase their commitment and drive towards achieving a greener future. Some highlights included new innovative ways of upcycling waste products to produce biogas and a novel carbon capture technology which coverts carbon dioxide emissions into formic acid (the formate salts of which are used in numerous chemical products such as de-icers and detergents). 

As the life sciences sector works towards reaching a common goal of net zero emissions, I look forward to the innovative climate solutions which will emerge from the research and development of new sustainable technologies.