Introduction

The animal health sector – companies that develop and produce solutions to better prevent, diagnose and treat animal disease, such as vaccines, parasite control, predictive monitoring technologies, diagnostics and therapeutics – is playing its part in ensuring a better and more sustainable future for all- animals, people, and the planet.

AnimalhealthEurope members collectively represent approximately 90% of the European animal health sector, and although our focus is Europe, our fourteen member companies are active in many countries around the globe, operating international supply chains, employing tens of thousands of people, and touching the lives of millions of farmers, veterinary professionals and pet owners.

The sustainability of livestock farming and aquaculture has been a key business driver for the European animal health industry for many years, alongside enhancing peoples’ relationships with the animals that share their homes.

Our sector plays a key role in contributing to a sustainable future for all, bringing solutions to issues related to emerging infectious diseases, food safety and security, environmental impacts of food production, and antimicrobial resistance, to name just a few.

So, from reducing emissions, to protecting animal health and welfare, and securing an affordable and sustainable food supply, we believe our work makes a difference. And we continue to invest in innovative solutions to support holistic animal health care. AnimalhealthEurope members invest on average 8% of turnover¹2024 turnover in Europe was €7.9 billion each year on R&D to deliver new, innovative solutions to improve how we monitor, prevent, diagnose and treat illness in animals. Advances in animal health, such as smart sensors monitoring animals 24/7, diagnostics powered by artificial intelligence, or next generation vaccines, helps ensure better health for the animals and more sustainable farms.

Developing new technologies requires energy, natural resources, and a global supply chain. So, throughout our sector’s business practices, our company members are applying the same innovative mindset that helps us tackle animal health challenges, to production processes and facilities, to reduce our own footprint.

In this publication, you can find several examples of how AnimalhealthEurope members are embracing this responsibility.

Providing vaccines for rabies-endemic countries

In 2024, Boehringer Ingelheim provided 46 million rabies vaccine doses and supported rabies vaccination campaigns in endemic countries for disease prevention in dog populations.

Supporting vaccination campaigns and educating people on disease prevention

In partnership with the Global Alliance for Rabies Control (GARC), Boehringer Ingelheim has supported the rabies vaccination of thousands of dogs across Indonesia, Kenya, Malaysia, the Philippines, South Africa, Thailand, and Vietnam.

• By 2038, they aim to provide 500 million vaccine doses and educate 15 million children on rabies disease prevention.

Donating veterinary medicines following natural disasters

Ceva donated €200K worth of veterinary medicines via regional and local channels, as well as via the Ministry of Agriculture, following Syria and Turkey earthquakes in 2023.

Funding wildlife protection initiatives

Ceva Wildlife Research Fund funded 5 scientific initiatives in 2023, including a project to vaccinate wild birds in Belgium’s Pairi Daiza wildlife park against avian influenza.

Supporting employee wellbeing

Dopharma supports employee wellbeing through its vitality programme, facilitating learning and development, offering regular preventive medical check-ups, and organising sports activities.

Training smallholder farmers

Elanco offered more than 1,000 trainings to smallholder farmers, teaching Good Animal Husbandry Practices as well as the correct use of medicines.

• Trainings have resulted in 60% behaviour change, with more responsible use of medicines.

Supporting education in local communities

Huvepharma supports various local cultural initiatives in local communities, engaging with community partners and schools to support education for underprivileged children.

Restoring habitats in countries around the world

MSD partners with WeForest for habitat restoration in countries like Brazil, India, Malawi, Tanzania and Zambia.

• More than 120 hectares of land have been restored by planting over 211,000 trees.

Volunteering in the community

Norbrook promotes employee engagement and community involvement by organising various activities for employees to give back to their community.

• In 2024, 500 employees volunteered a total of 1,800 hours towards various initiatives.

Protecting human rights in the supply chain

Orion safeguards human rights in its supply chain, and ensures fair pay, safety and inclusion for all employees.

Cutting GHG emissions

Boehringer Ingelheim received Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) validation in 2023 for its CO2 reduction targets and has already achieved 41% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions since 2010.

Greening production sites

Boehringer Ingelheim is investing in greening its production sites in Europe.

• Two sites achieved Zero Waste to Landfill certificates.
• Four sites achieved Carbon Neutrality certificates.
• One site achieved Water Stewardship certification.

Supporting conservation programmes

Ceva conducted biodiversity mapping projects in South Africa, Brazil and the United Kingdom, allowing the company to plan conservation programmes to support more than 26 species of birds, 2 mammals, 3 kinds of reptiles, 17 families of insects, a particular typology of spiders and 73 types of plants.

Installing solar energy systems

Ceva launched its first solar panel project in 2024 at the new distribution platform in Montpon, France. Plan to launch other projects at the Porto Empedocle facility in Sicily, and new headquarters in Libourne.

Improving energy efficiency

Dopharma is committed to improving energy efficiency and has set a target to reduce direct energy consumption by an average of 3% per year.

• Successfully implemented at the Netherlands facility since 2021, where the annual reduction target is consistently exceeded.
• Starting in 2025, will extend energy reduction programme to production sites in France and Germany (Ripac-Labor).

Using renewable energy

12% of electricity use is from renewable sources, progressing toward Elanco’s 2030 goal of 100%. Sites in Huningue, France and Kiel, Germany operate on renewable electricity.

Greening the fleet

Across Elanco European operations, approximately 20% of fleet vehicles are fully electric or plug-in hybrid.

Reusing and recycling waste

At Elanco facilities 91% of waste generated in 2023, including production wastewater, was reused or recycled.

Developing climate-friendly packaging

New packaging material for flea/tick collars launched in the UK by Elanco has 70% less global warming potential, plan is to expand distribution to additional markets in the coming years.

Transitioning the fleet to electric

Almost 50% of Huvepharma’s European fleet is full electric or plugin hybrid.

Investing in carbon-neutral production

Huvepharma has invested almost €269 million in renewable energy to achieve carbon-neutral production by 2030, including solar energy with battery storage, geothermal systems, and green hydrogen.

• By end 2024 solar panels provided ± 34 % of the total electricity consumed in our production sites.
• Cogeneration plants provide ± 41% of energy needed for Huvepharma’s steam production.

Transforming waste into energy

In collaboration with Greenburn®, Huvepharma transforms biomass and other waste from its production process into clean energy. This reduces greenhouse gas emissions and limits landfill use.

Re-using water

Via a strict water management plan, Huvepharma achieves a 75% water re-use rate in production facilities.

Aiming for net zero emissions

MSD aims for net zero emissions by 2045 and has already cut operational emissions by 12% and sourced 57% renewable electricity.

Supporting biodiversity

MSD Netherlands planted a large, biodiverse field at the Haarlem site, filled with native plants and a beehive housing approximately 15,000 bees.

Switching to reuasble shipping boxes

MSD replaced single-use cardboard boxes in Austria and Germany with reusable “green” boxes for shipping pharmaceutical products to domestic customers. Plans to expand to other countries and regions.

Implementing energy-efficient practices

Norbrook is dedicated to reducing its environmental footprint by implementing energy-efficient practices, minimising waste and promoting sustainable resource use.

Reducing pharmaceutical pollution

Orion targets net-zero emissions by 2050, cuts pharmaceutical pollution, promotes solvent reuse, and works to reduce its biodiversity and water footprint.

Reducing energy dependence and carbon footprint

Installation of 1,535 photovoltaic panels as part of EcoSyva’s plan for the next 7 years, with the aim of drastically reducing its energy dependence and carbon footprint by 2030.

• Combustion regulation systems have been installed in the boiler burners to achieve lower and more efficient consumption.
• Economisers have been installed in the flue vents of the boilers themselves to reduce gas emissions into the atmosphere.

Protecting local rivers

Vetoquinol invested in a water treatment plant at the Lure site in France to protect local rivers.

Optimising green packaging

Virbac launched the Green Packaging project to cut CO2 emissions by optimising packaging.

Reducing direct and indirect emissions

Virbac developed a decarbonisation plan aligned with the Paris Agreement, targeting GHG reductions across scopes 1–3.

• In 2024, 18.8% of energy came from renewable sources.

Powering operations from renewable energy sources

In 2024, Zoetis continued to progress toward carbon neutrality in the company’s own operations, reducing total scope 1 and 2 emissions by 26.7% since 2023.

• 80.6% of the company’s global electricity is covered by renewable sources.

Using recycled paper packaging

At the Zoetis Louvain-la-Neuve site in Belgium, a new outer packaging made with recycled paper was launched for a bovine vaccine.

Improving farmer access to animal health care

Backed by the Gates Foundation and GALVmed, Boehringer Ingelheim’s Last Mile initiative improved animal healthcare and medicines access for smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa.

• 60000 farmers reached by end of 2024.
• In 2024, activities in Kenya, Cameroon, and Nigeria enabled 44 approved product registrations to support livestock health and productivity.

Accelerating growth for smallholder farmers

Elanco’s east Africa Growth Accelerator project provides smallholder farmers with training on animal health care.

• Made a difference for an estimated 240,000 dairy and poultry smallholder farmers.
• Benefited the health of around 1.1 million cows and 16 million chickens.

Ensuring a European value-chain

Huvepharma emphasizes European-based manufacturing to ensure medicines supply security and regulatory alignment, while providing employment in Europe.

Financing education and community outreach

Each year globally, MSD invests in veterinary scholarships, donations, partnerships, and finances local community outreach.

Ensuring cost-effective healthcare solutions

Orion ties sustainability to growth, embedding ESG (environmental, social and governance) factors in risk management and executive pay, while maintaining reliable, cost-effective healthcare solutions globally.

Offering affordable medicines packs

Syva supports farmers in developing countries by providing affordable smaller product packs for smaller farms.

Safeguarding livelihoods through disease prevention

Syva participates in official campaigns for the eradication of livestock diseases such as brucellosis, helping to safeguard rural livelihoods.

Investing in R&D

Virbac maintains transparent governance and a balanced shareholder structure while reinvesting €100 million in tangible and intangible assets, supporting global R&D initiatives.

Funding veterinary student scholarships

Zoetis Foundation granted $3.5 million in funding in 2024 providing nearly 500 veterinary student scholarships.

Improving access to animal healthcare in Sub-Saharan Africa

Through Zoetis’ African Livestock Productivity and Health Advancement (A.L.P.H.A. Plus) initiative, treated 16.7 million cows and 354.9 million chickens in Sub-Saharan Africa between 2020 and 2024, exceeding goals.

Breeding for sustainability

Zoetis launched a strategic partnership with Danone in 2024, leveraging Zoetis’ genetics expertise to advance the dairy industry’s approach to breeding cattle for sustainability.

Healthier animals, healthier people and a healthier planet

Transitioning towards a more sustainable future demands both integrated policies and transformative thinking that interlink the environment, society, and the economy. It also requires greater concerted action from each and every actor in our eco-system – human, animal and environmental. We know that people are rightly concerned with environmental impacts of many industries. That’s why the animal health industry is already taking action to ensure positive contributions towards a healthier and more sustainable future for all.

Tackling tomorrow’s challenges requires hard work and investment today. Working together towards common ambitions and realistic objectives in the context of sustainability will be instrumental in achieving sustainability goals. Innovative solutions and new practices to address the multitude of challenges we face necessitate years of research, effort, coordination and above all cooperation, but together our collective actions have the power to shape a brighter, more sustainable future.