King-sized quest

When I spoke to you last month Boris Johnson was Prime Minister and HM Elizabeth II was Head of State. There are, indeed, decades where nothing happens and there are weeks when decades happen. And, in one particular week, Liz Truss moved into Downing Street and King Charles III into Buckingham Palace. Everything changed.

Irrespective of one’s views on institutions and traditions, anyone that does something for 70 years deserves to be saluted.

And, whether you believe in an interventionalist King, it should surely be agreed that a King (with an interest in the environmental issues) should intervene when it comes to climate change – when it comes to an existential crisis.

Pharma remains a massive part of the climate conundrum. Like all other industries, we are simply not doing enough – operating in the margins, setting arbitrary targets of 30% and generally giving ourselves ‘until 2030’ or even 2050! Wildfires, weird heatwaves and rising temperatures suggest that what we’re doing isn’t going to cut it.

Part of the problem is the wider culture of governments convincing us that ‘recycling our Evian bottles’ is the solution. In reality, we need to go bigger – much bigger.  Companies need to cut their air travel timetables (the elephant in the room), not by 20%, but by 90%.

Supply chains need to be radically overhauled and people within industry need to be treated with parity regardless of background, identity and ethnicity. After all, health inequalities remain inseparably linked to the environment.

Pharma is a brilliant, unique industry. We saved the world once and we can do it again,

John