Emissions from pharmaceutical consumption almost doubled in 24 years
Greenhouse gas emissions related to pharmaceutical consumption increased by 77 percent over the past 24 years, according to a Leiden University study published in The Lancet Planetary Health. Moreover, efficiency gains have stalled since 2008. ‘Our best option is reducing consumption and minimising waste’, says Rosalie Hagenaars, the lead author.
People don’t often consider the environmental consequences when taking painkillers, antibiotics, or prescribed medication. However, pharmaceuticals have a significant carbon footprint. Moreover, greenhouse gas emissions related to the pharmaceutical sector have been growing much faster than those of most other industries and the global average, new research from Leiden University shows.
Between 1995 and 2019, emissions from pharmaceutical consumption rose by 77 percent. ‘If you look at all types of consumption worldwide, the increase has only been 49 percent’, Hagenaars explains.
Focus on the whole system, rather than individual drugs
Hagenaars and her colleagues used a dataset from the OECD, analyzing 76 countries while also incorporating data from the rest of the world. This is the first time researchers have been able to analyse pharmaceutical-related emission trends on such a scale using primary data. ‘Until now, most estimates of pharmaceutical emissions were piecemeal, focusing on individual drugs rather than the whole system’, Hagenaars says.
A recently expanded database by the OECD, adding statistics from Africa and Southeast Asia, enabled this more complete picture. ‘Many other databases are heavily dominated by high-income countries’, corresponding author Ranran Wang says.
Growing pharmaceutical consumption is the main cause
The primary reason for the increase is growing pharmaceutical consumption. While greater access to medicine is beneficial, it also leads to significant waste. ‘From other studies, we know that pharmaceutical waste can range from 3 to 50 percent’, Hagenaars says. She mentions expired stockpiles, overprescription, and large package sizes as key contributors. In many countries, there are limited options for returning unused medications.
Beyond waste, pharmaceutical production is energy-intensive. And as production globalises, more than half of pharmaceutical-related emissions now occur outside the countries where the medicines are consumed. Without better oversight and accountability, these emissions remain largely invisible.
Reducing consumption is the ‘best option’ to lower footprint
Reducing consumption, with a focus on minimising waste, is ‘our best option’ to lower the pharmaceutical sector’s greenhouse gas footprint, Hagenaars states. Governments can play a crucial role by initiating programs to reduce waste or creating schemes to collect unused medicines. ‘These trends won’t start on their own, so we need government intervention’, she says.
Countries can learn from each other, as pharmaceutical emissions vary widely. In high-income nations, the greenhouse gas footprint per person is nine to ten times higher than in lower-income countries. Even among high-income countries, there are significant differences. It suggests that better prescription practices, production methods, and policies could cut emissions without reducing access to medicine.
Companies need to share more data
Reports from companies could help provide a clearer and more detailed picture of the sector’s impact. However, this would require pharmaceutical companies to disclose more details about their emissions. That remains a challenge due to patent confidentiality and other restrictions.
Companies would also need to report on so-called Scope 3 emissions. These are caused indirectly upstream or downstream in the production chain. Scope 3 emissions account for more than 80 percent of the total in over half of the regions studied. ‘We now know pharmaceutical emissions are a problem, but without better data and systematic research, we’re only guessing at solutions’, Wang concludes.
The greenhouse gas emissions of pharmaceutical consumption and production: an input-output analysis over time and across global supply chains has been published in The Lancet Planetary Health on March 19.