Michael Grass, Member of the Management Board BAK Economics

Thirty years ago, the three-pillar model of sustainability encapsulated a visionary idea: the economy, society and the environment must be considered as a single unit in order to secure the future of future generations. At the time, however, scepticism dominated – large sections of the business community primarily saw environmental measures as obstacles to growth. What is the situation today?

A turnaround has taken place in recent years: companies around the world are increasingly recognising that ecologically sustainable economic activity is not only required by environmental policy, but also offers tangible economic advantages in the long term – whether through resource savings or securing markets. Stakeholders, i.e. investors, consumers, customers, citizens and authorities, are now urgently demanding that companies make sustainability a central component of their strategies.

The companies realised long ago that There is no conflict of objectives between ecological sustainability and economic competitiveness, but on the contrary, synergies. Our current study by BAK Economics on behalf of scienceindustries impressively demonstrates this using the chemical-pharmaceutical industry as an example – numerous Swiss chemical and pharmaceutical companies are pioneers in a global industry comparison: they invest significantly more in environmental technologies than their competitors abroad, relative to their emissions.

Investments in environmental technology: chemical and pharmaceutical industry pioneers

The chemical and pharmaceutical industry is also a pioneer within Swiss industry: investments in resource efficiency, defossilisation, renewable energies and the circular economy led to a remarkable 26% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions between 2008 and 2021. And that, it should be noted, was achieved while simultaneously increasing value added by 83%. Emissions per franc of value added thus fell by 60%.

In addition to investments in environmental technologies, the increase in research intensity in Switzerland has also contributed to the reduction in emissions. The fact that parts of production – and thus emissions – have been relocated abroad over the past 20 years has also had positive effects: Swiss companies have also ‘exported’ their comparatively high environmental standards to their foreign locations.

Profitability and sustainability go hand in hand

The Swiss chemical-pharmaceutical industry is not only a European pioneer in terms of environmental sustainability, but also a frontrunner in economic competitiveness. Worldwide, only the United States is more competitive as a location for chemical-pharmaceutical companies. Neither in Switzerland nor internationally can a conflict of objectives be found in the data. Quite the opposite: economic competitiveness and environmental sustainability go hand in hand.