A Letter from Our CEO
Purpose and Innovation Drive Our Sustainability Journey
In a world filled with uncertainty and conflict, our purpose guides and sustains us as we care for animals, people and the planet we share.
We are on a journey to nurture our world and humankind by advancing care for animals. Along the way, our colleagues boldly embrace challenges and opportunities to champion a healthier, more sustainable future for all.
Our Driven to Care long-term sustainability goals include specific, measurable commitments across communities, animals and the planet. This 2021 sustainability progress update highlights how we are mobilizing these commitments, such as cultivating a flexible, inclusive workplace; providing grants, training and scholarships for veterinarians and farmers; combatting diseases that jeopardize animal and human health; and innovating in ways that protect the planet.
Zoetis closed 2021 with our strongest performance yet, demonstrating that animal health medicines, vaccines, diagnostics and devices remain essential – even in times of uncertainty. In this report, I invite you to learn how our Driven to Care sustainability initiative supports our company’s growth and, most of all, the health and well-being of our world.
Communities: Care and Collaboration
Our colleagues are passionate about driving our purpose to nurture our world and humankind by advancing care for animals—whether they are collaborating with a farmer to track health data on their herds, innovating in a lab or introducing a life-changing product to veterinary practices. We have a responsibility to do whatever we can to support them.
At Zoetis, we strive to create an environment where colleagues feel like they belong, are heard and valued for their unique talents and experiences. In 2021, we made steady progress in cultivating a diverse, equitable and inclusive workplace. Doing so is a top priority, because diversity drives innovation and deeper collaboration with customers—all resulting in better care for the animals we love and depend on.
To advance our goals, we partnered with organizations, industry associations and institutions to expand and diversify our talent, and hosted our second Annual DE&I Summit with colleagues to share the story of our ongoing journey. I am also pleased to report that 92% of our workforce took part in one or more DE&I training programs.
We found effective ways to support our colleagues during the past year and did the same for the customers we serve. We announced the Zoetis Foundation in 2021, and through the Foundation, we dispersed $932,000 through grants to advance opportunities for veterinarians and farmers. In addition, we invested $7.8 million in our communities through our corporate giving.
Caring for Colleagues and Customers in Ukraine
As the deepening war in Ukraine continues to test the resilience of our global community, I am proud of our ongoing efforts to provide care for our colleagues and customers in Ukraine, the animals in their care, and relief to local communities.
Our teams on the ground in Eastern Europe have worked tirelessly with care and compassion to provide evacuation assistance wherever possible to our colleagues in Ukraine, taking in refugees in some cases, and coordinating the donation of goods at the border. Zoetis is providing paid volunteer time off for colleagues in the countries bordering Ukraine to assist in humanitarian efforts related to the crisis.
To support our customers and those who care for animals, we have donated $500,000 worth of critical medicines for food-producing animals. We also have mobilized aid for pets, donating Zoetis products and vaccinating pets and stray dogs at the border, and together with global veterinary group IVC Evidensia, we are supplying donations of much-needed vaccines, parasiticides and other medicines for pets from Ukraine in veterinary clinics across Europe.
I am encouraged by the increasing generosity of our Zoetis colleagues, who have contributed more than $90,000 to the Zoetis Foundation’s Red Cross microsite. The Zoetis Foundation is matching colleague donations up to $150,000 donated to the Red Cross.
Animals: Innovation in Animal Health
Healthy, productive livestock animals contribute to a safe, sustainable food supply and provide sustainable livelihoods for farmers and their families. In 2021, we introduced new products and services to help farmers, and the veterinarians who support them, advance their environmental, social and animal welfare goals. For example, we equipped cow-calf producers with digital herd management software that gives them real-time insights into their cattle’s health—along with blockchain technology to give beef producers and their customers access to cattle information from multiple sources. These advanced solutions bring data insights together to help cattle producers make earlier, more informed decisions to keep their animals healthy and productive.
With our customers always top of mind, we also strengthened collaborations with external organizations to drive sustainable livestock production.
Our innovations go beyond the farm. Around the world, the COVID-19 pandemic heightened awareness of the need to prevent the spread of diseases—not only to protect people and society but animals, too. In 2021, we donated more than 11,000 doses of our COVID vaccine for animals, and have committed an additional 15,000 doses to zoos, conservatories and other organizations in over a dozen countries. Together with zoo veterinarians, we are helping to protect the health and well-being of more than 300 mammalian species.
To help provide access to veterinary care in emerging markets, we advanced our African Livestock Productivity and Health Advancement (A.L.P.H.A.) initiative and trained 25,500 farmers, veterinarians and other personnel to help them improve livestock health and positively impact farmers’ livelihoods in Sub-Saharan Africa. Our goal is to train 100,000 people by 2025.
Planet: The Drive to Protect Our Planet
As we deliver products and services, we must do so in a way that protects the planet we all call home. In January 2022, we announced updated climate goals for our operations to be carbon neutral by 2030, and we accelerated our renewable goal by 20 years, committing to source 100% renewable energy by 2030. We continue to examine our broader environmental footprint and make progress on our planet goals by developing a clear roadmap to achieve our targets to minimize energy waste, reduce fleet emissions and expand renewable energy sourcing.
Also, to reduce our environmental footprint, we developed processes and policies to ensure our new product packaging designs meet customer and environmental considerations. We created a Packaging Council to shepherd this effort, and our company joined the Sustainable Packaging Coalition to engage with other organizations and work together on solutions.
In aspiring to be the most sustainable animal health company in the world, we have a distance to go before we reach our Driven to Care goals. Yet, we continue to make meaningful progress, thanks to our persistent and purpose-driven colleagues who care deeply about creating a sustainable future for customers, communities and animals everywhere.
Kristin Peck
CEO, Zoetis
Up Next: Community