Abdi İbrahim Publishes UN Global Compact Report

Abdi İbrahim, which has been pursuing a journey to improve the world and the future for 108 years with courage, passion and responsibility, published its 10th Progress Report under the Global Compact it signed in 2010. Operating with corporate citizenship awareness and viewing management principles as an integral part of its operations, Abdi İbrahim, which became a signatory to the United Nations Global Compact on 16 September 2010, published its 10th Progress Report. In addition to its 108-year history and 18 years of continuous industry leadership, Abdi İbrahim, which represents an important sustainability success story for Turkey, presents in its published Progress Report both its development in Turkey and globally and the steps it has taken with determination. The Progress Report, which covers the period from 1 January to 31 December 2019 and includes progress under the United Nations' Women's Empowerment Principles (WEPs) private sector initiative and the UNGC CEO Water Mandate, can be accessed at www.abdiibrahim.com.tr/sosyal-sorumluluk/surdurulebilirlik/kurumsal-raporlar.

An approach respecting people, nature and universal values

Abdi İbrahim, through its corporate citizen identity, sectoral mission, social priorities, universal principles and sensitivities, operates in all of its economic, environmental and social activities within the framework of respect for people, nature and universal values. In this direction, it takes great care to share its development processes and results with the public. Through its memberships in globally recognized sustainability initiatives, Abdi İbrahim closely follows international standards and continuously develops itself in this area, publishing its UN Global Compact Progress Report to stakeholders every year. Expressing their pleasure in sharing the 10th Progress Report, Dr. M. Oğuzcan Bülbül, Director of Public Relations and Corporate Communications at Abdi İbrahim, stated: "We focus on incorporating the 10 global principles of the Global Compact, which form the basis of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals prioritized by the United Nations, into all of our business processes, strategies and operations. As a consequence of our responsibility towards the society in which we live and the world whose resources we use, we provide detailed coverage in our annual Progress Report of our work implemented in different areas, from environment to investment, from employment to social responsibility." Stating that Abdi İbrahim does not view its sustainability strategy separately from its business strategies but as parts of a complementary and mutually reinforcing whole, Dr. M. Oğuzcan Bülbül said: "Even in 2019, when economic difficulties were experienced both globally and in Turkey, despite all economic fluctuations, we continued our investments uninterrupted thanks to our long-term strategic plans and swift actions against opportunities and threats.

During this period, we continued to strengthen our relationships with all stakeholders. We also continued our environmental protection investments uninterrupted and achieved significant savings as a result of improvement projects we implemented across all business processes.

As a company that pays attention to individuals' right to health, right to education, equal opportunity and the right to live in a healthy environment, we continued to create social benefit through research, campaigns, volunteer-based projects and sponsorships that we conduct in accordance with our corporate social responsibility." Accelerating its sustainability efforts in 2019, Abdi İbrahim decided from 1 January 2020 onwards to source all electricity needs at its chemical pharmaceutical production facility in Esenyurt, its biotechnology pharmaceutical production facility AbdiBio, its Research and Development Center and its unmanned logistics center, as well as all subsidiary operations, from renewable energy sources, namely wind and solar. The use of renewable energy, which began first in production, will be applied gradually across the entire journey from the procurement process to raw material sourcing, from the marketing and sales phase to the end consumer. Thus, the target is to reduce Abdi İbrahim's carbon footprint to zero by 2030. Taking an important step in water sustainability, Abdi İbrahim became the first Turkish pharmaceutical company to join the signatories of the CEO Water Mandate initiative, a UN Global Compact initiative, in January 2020. In doing so, the company will support water protection policies sustained simultaneously around the world with its corporate commitments.

"We will be leaders with our Environmental, Social and Governance performance"

Emphasizing that in line with Abdi İbrahim's 2025 vision, they will accelerate their sustainability efforts further in the coming period, Dr. M. Oğuzcan Bülbül stated: "One of Abdi İbrahim's strategic objectives is to transition to a low-carbon economy, achieve the goal of becoming a carbon-neutral company by 2030, minimize the environmental and social impacts resulting from its operations, and create added value for all stakeholders in the long term. To this end, we shape all our business processes with our Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance (ESG) perspective and continuously review them. We have also integrated this approach into our company's organizational structure. The strategies we create within ESG criteria, the targets we set and the projects implemented are monitored and overseen by a "Sustainability Committee" at the Board of Directors level. Our ultimate objective is to be a leader in this area both in our country and in our region with our ESG performance. In order to achieve our sustainability targets, we are seeking cooperation at all levels with Turkey's best companies and start-ups in the fields of supply, logistics and production processes to transition to a circular economy and waste management. Additionally, we have identified as other important priorities participating in platforms such as CDP and RE100 where we can share our company's sustainability initiatives and benefit from the extensive experience of their members, and obtaining a 'B Corp Certification' for our company in the medium term. As a 100 percent domestic and 108-year-old Turkish pharmaceutical company, we view representing our company on these platforms as an important responsibility. Beyond this, we believe these objectives will also add value to our company in terms of new investments we will make in the coming period. As a signatory to the UN Global Compact, we will not lose sight of our responsibility to contribute to the planet we live on and to future generations. We will continue to be a follower of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals and prioritize activities that will support these goals."