Barcelona, July 11, 2023.- At Ferrer, a certified B Corp company in 2022, we reaffirm that there is another way of doing business, from an ethical business relationship that contributes to a better society. In the last three years, we have allocated more than 40% of our net profits on average to different social and environmental projects aimed at creating a fairer and more equitable society. As stated in the latest Sustainability Report, in 2022 47% of profits were reinvested, materializing, once again, our purpose of generating a positive impact on society.
"As a company we have the obligation and responsibility to put business profitability and social benefit at the same level. We believe that the pharmaceutical business is not an end in itself, but a means to generate substantial social changes. We are aware that we still have a long way to go, but we want to encourage other companies to follow the same path," says Mario Rovirosa, CEO of Ferrer.
Precisely, to inspire other companies and to multiply the positive impact beyond the company's borders, various initiatives have been launched involving our business partners, suppliers and other companies. The Suppliers for good program is an example of this. With this project, at Ferrer we want to accompany and guide our suppliers in improving their ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) practices. To this end, we initiated an ESG assessment process for our suppliers and, in 2022, there were already 320 suppliers evaluated through Ecovadis, which already include nearly 50% of those identified as significant. As a result of this effort, in 2022 they were recognized as leaders in CDP (Carbon Disclosure Project) Supplier Engagement. In addition, and to be consistent with our strategy, we have received the EcoVadis Gold certification .
A similar project has also been launched to involve our business partners, called Partners for good. The project consists of evaluating and promoting environmental, social and corporate governance performance among the selected partners, and defining actions to accompany and involve them in generating a positive impact on society.
And, in this line of inspiring others, in 2022, we joined as a strategic partner together with the Barcelona City Council, EADA Business School and B Lab Spain in the Barcelona +B alliance , a public-private collaboration project that aims to be part of a global movement to mobilise hundreds of thousands of citizens and organisations to promote a more prosperous city. sustainable and inclusive.
Commitment to people, to the planet and to a fair and equitable society
The data from Ferrer's 2022 Annual Report also reflect the company's commitment, through our Great People axis , to a people-centred culture that is committed to female leadership. Thus, 51% of all managers are represented by women. In fact, the senior management team is made up of 6 women and 5 men.
"The people at Ferrer are our driving force and we want them to feel understood, valued, motivated, listened to. And we strive to keep them developing. Proof of this is that in 2022 we dedicated almost 127,000 hours to training our people, which represents 68 hours per person. Because we want Ferrer people to feel that they are in the best place to work and that they also live our purpose in their day-to-day lives," says Bea Vila, Chief People & Sustainability Officer at Ferrer. Of the total hours, only 5% correspond to compulsory training, while 68.5% are skills training and upskilling and 26.5% technical.
In this sense, the company revalidated its certification as a Great Place to Work® in Spain, Mexico and Portugal and launched in two new countries: Chile and Costa Rica. With a record 96% of the workforce, 75% consider Ferrer to be an excellent place to work and 88% said they are proud of the contribution the company makes to society.
In addition, at Ferrer we reaffirm our culture based on trust and responsibility by consolidating our commitment to flexible working through our own model without restrictions between face-to-face and teleworking, for those professionals who, due to their functions, can work remotely. Under the name of Great Work!, we have opted for an Activity Based Working system , offering different ways of working depending on the activity of each person.
Ferrer's people were also a driving force behind the Social Justice axis , through which the company works to create a fairer and more equitable society. To this end, the company mobilised 925 people through its volunteering programme, dedicating more than 6,437 hours to social and environmental projects.
A large part of the reinvestment of Ferrer's net profits is allocated to projects such as Ferrer for Food, carried out by the Ferrer Sustainability Foundation. It is a social kitchen project that distributes, daily, more than 4,000 nutritionally complete meals to people in vulnerable situations and distributes them to 51 social entities in Barcelona and the Maresme.
In 2022, in addition, the Ferrer-Salat Music Foundation commemorated its 40 years of history, marked by the promotion of musical excellence and social transformation through music. Four decades of activity, in which its contribution to social integration through formal regulated music education stands out.
Another outstanding social impact project is that of the Èxit Foundation, an initiative whose mission is to reduce early school leaving among young people in situations of social vulnerability. During 2022, thanks to all the joint activities with the Èxit Foundation, we have managed to impact the lives of 218 young people, 38 within the Leader Coach programme , improving employability and reducing school dropout rates among young people through coaching and mentoring.
Through the actions within our Liveable Planet axis , for the environmental preservation of the planet, Ferrer achieved a reduction in its global carbon footprint of 10.3% in 2022, approaching the goal of having reduced it by 25% by 2030, and reduced its direct emissions by 9.3%. In this line, we work with 100% electricity from renewables, avoiding the emission of 7,500 tonnes of CO2 each year. On the other hand, we also achieve a recovery of 84.6% of our waste globally, thanks to actions such as treatment, recycling, recovery and composting, among others.
In the face of the climate crisis we are facing as a society, Ferrer has implemented a Climate Transition Plan that aligns the business strategy with the decarbonisation objectives acquired through the Science Based Targets (SBTi) for the year 2030. "This project will allow, among other things, to assess the return on investment in an objective and comparable way, taking into account energy efficiency, CO2 emissions and other environmental variables of great value for decision-making, facilitating the transition to business models with lower carbon emissions," explains David Ferrer, Chief Financial Officer of Ferrer.
In this sense, one of the most innovative initiatives is the implementation of the internal carbon price. This tool plays a fundamental role in decision-making by considering the impacts, risks and opportunities related to climate change through the setting of this price for each Ton ofCO2 emitted.
