Sustainability at the heart
of what we do

At UCB, sustainability starts with our core business: discovering innovative, differentiated medicines and ensuring that they reach the patients who need them.

By doing so, we are improving the lives of people with severe diseases and creating societal impact, while supporting our employees who develop and deliver our innovations, the shareholders who invest in our mission and the communities we are part of, at the same time minimizing the environmental impact of our solutions and operations.

UCB's sustainability priorities are organized around seven interconnected focus areas: scientific innovation, equitable access to medicines, patient engagement, health of the planet, health, safety and wellbeing, inclusion, and ethical business practices. These were identified through a structured double materiality assessment and reflect where we can create the greatest positive impact. Each area is supported by dedicated policies, targets, actions, and performance tracking.

UCB identifies our most important sustainability topics through a structured double materiality assessment — a formal process to identify, refine and assess the environmental, social and governance topics that matter most to the company and our stakeholders. This process considers both financial risks and opportunities, as well as UCB's impact on people and the environment. Results are reviewed and validated by our Executive Committee and Board of Directors. Read more about our materiality assessment.

At UCB, sustainability is directly connected to the corporate strategy. Since 2019, we have followed an integrated approach to sustainable performance that shapes our strategy and reinforces accountability across the organization, with selected sustainability targets that are part of the company's objectives. The results of our materiality assessment inform both our corporate strategy and our enterprise risk management framework. Read more in our Integrated Annual Report.

Select sustainability targets, such as those related to equitable access to medicines, are linked directly to the Long-Term Incentive (LTI) plans of UCB’s senior executives. This ensures leadership is not only guided by these goals, but is also measured and rewarded against them, reinforcing accountability for sustainability performance at the highest level of the company.

Sustainability is embedded in UCB’s company strategy and is overseen by the Board of Directors and the executive committee. While the Global Sustainability team coordinates and supports the company’s sustainability efforts, the responsibility of delivering on our sustainability commitments is shared across the organization. Sustainability is part of many teams’ work, with responsibilities aligned to each employee’s role and expertise. Learn more about our governance structure.

The UCB External Sustainability Advisory Board (ESAB) is a group of external, renowned experts who provide independent perspectives on emerging global sustainability trends, as well as recommendations to improve our societal impact. Learn more about our ESAB.

UCB measures our sustainability progress against specific targets for each material topic. Performance is reported annually in the Sustainability Statement of our Integrated Annual Report, prepared in line with the European Sustainability Reporting Standards. This reporting undergoes independent limited assurance review each year to ensure accuracy. Read our latest Integrated Annual Report.

UCB's full sustainability performance and targets are published annually in the Sustainability Statement of our Integrated Annual Report. The latest Annual report is available on UCB’s website – Access our latest Sustainability Statement.