UCB External Sustainability Advisory BoardIn our continuously evolving world, it is essential to stay abreast of diverse perspectives and multifaceted strategies, recognizing the interconnectedness of economics, society, politics and the environment.Engaging with UCB External Sustainability Advisory Board (ESAB) members is one of the methods we employ to achieve this.The ESAB comprises thought leaders with diverse backgrounds and areas of expertise across various sectors – ranging from international cooperation and human rights to environmental sustainability, from health equity to sustainable development and finance, as well as scientific innovation and health policy.Their insights are indispensable in advancing our journey towards creating a greater impact. They engage with us in crucial and thought-provoking dialogues, prompting us to examine our strategy from different perspectives, challenging our focus and aiding us in making more informed decisions.The ESAB offers external expertise and perspectives on UCB’s sustainability approach, enhancing our understanding of sustainability and providing recommendations to improve our positive contribution to society and the economy.You can find out more about the ways we engage with our ESAB members by following us on UCB LinkedIn channel and visiting UCB.com stories. ESAB members Sandrine Dixson, Executive Chair of Earth4Alland Former President, The Club of Rome “Sustainability is no longer a nice to have but an economic, societal, and environmental imperative. UCB has shown its commitment to sustainability by adopting a holistic approach that addresses the full gamut of sustainability concerns from social equity to climate impact, not only across the company but increasingly across the value chain from production to use. The biggest challenge for a company like UCB is staying the course, and reminding itself as well as its competitors, customers and peers, that the cost of inaction is much greater than the cost of action.” BiographySandrine Dixson-Declève led The Club of Rome as co-President for 6 years until 2024 and is the Executive Chair of Earth4All.She also sits on several non-executive and advisory boards including the Climate Governance Commission, EDP, BMW, UCB, Climate KIC, Leonardo Centre, Imperial College London and is a Senior Associate and faculty member of the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL), an Ambassador for the Energy Transition Commission (ETC) and the Wellbeing Alliance (WeAll) and a Fellow of the World Academy of Science & Art. Until recently, Ms. Dixson-Declève was Chair for the European Commission Expert Group on Economic and Societal Impact of Research & Innovation (ESIR). She has also sat on the European Commission’s Mission on Climate Change & Adaptation.Ms. Dixson-Declève is a TED global speaker and recently published “Quel Monde Pour Demain” lucpire editions and Earth for All: A Survival Guide for Humanity. She was recognized by Reuters as one of 25 global female trailblazers in 2023 and by GreenBiz as one of the 30 most influential women across the globe driving change in the low carbon economy and promoting green business. Charlotte Ersbøll, Founding Partner at Hansen & Ersbøll Agenda, Chair of the External Sustainability Advisory Board of UCB “UCB is finding itself in an interesting dilemma: on the one hand, we are increasing our capabilities to generate radical and breakthrough innovation that can solve prior-to unmet medical needs; on the other hand, UCB is operating in an environment where inequalities are growing and communities are facing multiple interconnected crises, from health outbreaks, climate change, geopolitical tensions and conflicts. It’s in this very complex nexus of big challenges that we're seeking to create value and drive health equity within the disease areas where UCB has potential solutions.”BiographyCharlotte Ersbøll works with global leaders from business, academia and civil society in how to lead purpose-led transformation towards solving some of world’s greatest challenges. She is an expert and frequent speaker in how to mobilize internal and external stakeholders behind a shared purpose, how to form multi-stakeholder partnerships that can deliver systemic change, and how to set meaningful social impact metrics that can drive real progress.Ms. Ersbøll is a Trustee with Forum for the Future, a leading international sustainability non-profit that works with business, governments and civil society to accelerate the shift toward a sustainable future; a Deputy Board Member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Alliance for Women’s Health; and a Private Sector Constituency Chair of the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health (PMNCH) hosted by the World Health Organization (WHO).Ms. Ersbøll was a Senior Advisor to the CEO of UN Global Compact, the world’s largest sustainable business initiative, where she led the initiative’s strategic mobilization and rollout of the Sustainable Development Goals to companies worldwide. Ms. Ersbøll developed and led UNGC's multi-year stakeholder engagement platform ‘Health is Everyone’s Business’ that focused on the role for business in the nexus between climate, nature and health.For more than a decade, Ms. Ersbøll was the Corporate Vice President of Corporate Stakeholder Engagement with Novo Nordisk A/S, where she was globally responsibility for the company’s reputation, external relations, sustainability and access to health strategies. She built Novo Nordisk’s global Public Affairs capability and global PA organization of +150 professionals. She spearheaded Novo Nordisk’s prize winning global Changing Diabetes® leadership platform and signature programmes, including the Cities Changing Diabetes initiative in collaboration with University College London.Charlotte Ersbøll was on the faculty of Cambridge University’s Sustainability Leadership Programme, was member of the Trust, Reputation and Compliance Policy Committee of the European Federation of the Pharmaceutical Industry (EFPIA), a council member of the Novo Nordisk Haemophilia Foundation and a member of the World Economic Forum Humanitarian System Global Future Council. Bright Simons, Founder and President of mPedigree “Where UCB can make the most difference, in my view, is how it takes all that accumulation of insight and knowledge, understanding of patients, understanding of the science, of disease, understanding of the interactions between society and treatment, and then constitute a major category of interventions that goes below medicine. This is where I think UCB can have the most transformative impact in the world.” BiographyBright Simons is the Founder and President of mPedigree, a social enterprise working on three continents with governments, Fortune 500 companies and activists to safeguard human health and food security using technology.A career inventor and innovator, his current projects include vaccine quality detection using novel organo-sensors.As a Harvard SICI Cheng Fellow, Mr. Simons led the Koldchain team on the thermocypher and related innovations, exploring the use of novel organo-sensors in the vaccine supply chain as well as the enabling digital health networks required to support biomedical security and intelligence. He led pioneering work at the Harvard Innovation Labs to invent and patent organo-sensors for biomedicals.Bright Simons is a Skoll Awardee, World Economic Forum Young Global Leader, TED Fellow, Aspen Braddock Fellow, 2017 class of Tällberg Global Leaders, winner of the Eliasson Global Leadership Prize of the Tällberg Foundation, and the 2016 CNBC African Innovative Business Leader of the Year. He is also a Board-level Advisor, with recent appointments to the Microsoft Africa Advisory Council, the Lancet Commission on the Future of Health in Africa, the Center for Global Development’s Study Group on Technology, the World Economic Forum’s Africa Strategy Group, Care International, the inaugural Ashoka Globalizer initiative, the Africa Population Health Research Center, and IC Publications, owner of the New African magazine. He is also a member of the Africa Reference Group advising Cambridge University on climate, sustainability, innovation and entrepreneurship. In 2016, Fortune magazine named him on their 50 World Greatest Leaders list.
