At Novartis, we use science-based innovation to address some of society’s most challenging healthcare issues. We discover and develop breakthrough treatments and find new ways to deliver them to as many people as possible. As a global company, we have a great responsibility and an even greater opportunity to lead the world in creating a positive social change, embracing societal impact as a core business objective.

Shanelle Gabriel spending time with her father in New York

Novartis in Society Integrated Report 2023

The Novartis in Society Integrated Report covers our business, strategy and performance. It highlights progress against our ESG targets and describes how we create value for diverse stakeholders.

A female health worker talking a male patient through his medication steps and holding a bottle of pills in her hand.

Impact & Health Equity Update 2023

Our 10th annual ESG investor event provided updates on our most material topics, Innovation and Access to Medicines, and our preparation for upcoming ESG reporting requirements.
 

View the event presentation (PDF 9.9 MB)
 

For more recent progress, we provide a quarterly impact and sustainability update.
 

Q4 2023 Impact and Sustainibility Update (PDF 0.6 MB)


Building trust with society

Building trust with society is a key part of the Novartis corporate strategy and is critical to delivering on our purpose of reimagining medicine to improve and extend people’s lives. Our ESG efforts are integrated across the company and are key to driving long-term sustainable value for our stakeholders.

We believe a focus on our material ESG topics, coupled with our inspired, curious and unbossed culture will drive better performance. ESG topics form a core component of how the Novartis Executive Committee and the Board of Directors evaluate long-term performance of the company. We are committed to reporting transparently on these topics through our Reporting and Transparency Hub, which includes the Novartis in Society Integrated Report (PDF 8.4 MB), as well as our other publications.

Doctor in Rwanda weighing a baby

Access

We are committed to bringing more of our medicines to more people, no matter where they are.

We aim to conduct business responsibly wherever we operate with a focus on building a strong ethical foundation, respect for human rights, patient health and safety, diversity, equity and inclusion and the safety and well-being of our employees. We have clear commitments on many other social topics including the living wage, product quality and use of animals in research.


K Malesh, a farmer in the village of Sollakpally, now has ready access to water to irrigate his crops.

Water project revives rural community in India

Novartis is aiming for water neutrality in our own operations by 2030. In India, we are contributing to this goal through a project near Hyderabad with a nonprofit organization. By tackling both water scarcity and the deprivation it causes, the project has revived the community.

Sister Martine, a trained nurse, dispensing medicine at the Catholic mission’s health center in Ntui, Cameroon.

A partnership against epilepsy

Parts of Cameroon have rates of epilepsy that are among the highest in the world. Despite the availability of effective therapies, poverty, a lack of medical resources and superstition about the causes of epilepsy often lead to inadequate treatment and social exclusion for people living with the neurological condition. Novartis is working with a Catholic mission on the ground in a central part of the country to overcome these barriers and improve care.

Materiality Assessment

Our ESG priorities are defined by our materiality assessment, it helps us understand what matters to our stakeholders and how they perceive our impact.

Corporate governance

Our corporate governance framework supports sustainable financial performance and long-term value creation and is aligned with our values and behaviors. In a rapidly changing business environment, we apply effective risk management to build resilience. We continue taking important steps to integrate our ESG agenda into the core of our business, enhancing executive accountability and measuring our performance against transparent targets. Members of the Executive Committee and other senior leaders have ESG targets in their annual objectives.


People relaxing in the Novartis Basel campus

Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Index

Novartis aims to report comprehensively and transparently about ESG topics. We have created a set of environmental, social and governance indices to signpost where our key disclosures can be found across our publications and channels.