Sustainability Report 2024
Our Approach to Sustainability
How We Make a Difference
Our Making a Difference Sustainability strategy is closely aligned with our Values and Culture, sits firmly at the heart of all that we do, and helps position Dechra as an even better business capable of delivering long term value to all stakeholders.
Our Culture
Our Values, entrepreneurial attitude and agile approach to the way we do things are the backbone of our Culture. We expect our people to make a difference by collaborating with each other and support them by providing clear guidance on expectations.
Our Purpose
The sustainable improvement of animal health and welfare globally
Our Values
Dedication
We are dedicated to delivering products and services that meet the highest level of service and quality to our customers.
Enjoyment
We endeavor to create an environment where our people want to come to work and feel a part of Dechra.
Courage
We want a business where we dare to challenge each other, where innovation and creativity can flourish.
Honesty
We are honest and open in all interactions and act with integrity and fairness.
Relationships
We see our customers and suppliers as business partners and work together for common success.
Ambition
We are goal oriented and deliver solid results through our energetic and resilient approach.
Our Sustainability Strategy Pillars
Our Business
Provide sustainable products, education and technical support to veterinarians.
Our Environment
Minimise our impact on the environment.
Our People
Be a great and safe place to work.
Our Community
Give back to the communities in which we operate.
Our Culture Defined
Entrepreneurial & Agile
We move quickly to make decisions and have ‘light touch bureaucracy’. We expect accountability and encourage our people to seek out new opportunities to help us grow.
Transparent
We are open and honest with our people and our suppliers and customers. We tell it like it is.
Collaborative
We know that the best outcomes arise from true team working. We operate in a matrix structure, sharing best practices around the globe and harnessing the power of our different cultures.
Enthusiastic
We want our people to enjoy coming to work. We are informal and look for people who share our passion for what we do. We love people that want to make a difference.
What Sustainability Means to Us
Our Making a Difference plan formalises our commitment to a long term Sustainability strategy, and has strong links with our Purpose and our Culture.
It provides a framework centred around four Sustainability pillars and a set of 11 objectives, helping to focus our efforts on making conscious choices and working with our stakeholders to become a more sustainable business.
Sustainability is well embedded within the business and we are adopting an increasingly integrated approach when it comes to making strategic choices and how different parts of the business interact.
We believe that this approach will allow us to demonstrate, measure and improve our performance whilst having a positive impact in addressing the social, economic and environmental challenges the world is facing.
Our Community
Give back to the communities in which we operate
Our Business
Provide sustainable products, education and technical support to veterinarians
Our People
Be a great and safe place to work
Our Environment
Minimise our impact on the environment
Our Sustainability Strategy is Changing
Why Are We Changing?
We recognise that Sustainability considerations are constantly evolving, as is our business and our industry. To continue being successful, remain relevant for our customers and competitive in the market, we must ensure we keep pace with this change.
We want Dechra to be a resilient business. As we become more mature in our approach to sustainability, we have been moving away from individual programmes towards a more in integrated approach, with a focus on our full value chain. To support this ongoing process, the time was right to transition to a new strategy and framework that captures everything we plan to do and aligns more closely with our recently launched brand positioning of the Veterinary Perspective.
An Updated Materiality Assessment
Our previous materiality assessment was performed in 2022 and we were mindful that much had changed in that time. To complement our updated Sustainability strategy, we also took the opportunity to perform a new, in depth assessment of the key risks and opportunities faced by our business.
This process was extensive, assessing the factors identified from both an impact and financial materiality perspective. Having a thorough and up to date double materiality assessment also means we are well prepared to report under the requirements of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), which will apply to Dechra fromfinancial year 2026 onwards. We look forward to sharing the outcome of this assessment next year, when we report against our new Sustainability strategy for the first time.
Our New Sustainability Strategy
Sustainble Innovation
We develop evidence-based innovations for sustainable animal health and wellbeing.
Focus Areas
- Innovating a broad portfolio of specialist animal therapeutics
- Delivering sustainable solutions
Resilient Planet
We conserve our natural resources to foster a more resilient planet.
Focus Areas
- Driving climate action
- Promoting water stewardship
- Minimising waste
- Perserving biodiversity, land & water
- Managing APIs safely & responsibly
Thriving
People
We care about the wellbeing of our employees and our veterinary customers.
Focus Areas
- Investing in our employees
- Partnering with veterinary professionals & other customers
Strong Communities
We strengthen the social, economic and environmental health and welfare of local communities.
Focus Areas
- Volunteering through community service
- Donating to impact causes
- Partnering with suppliers
- Enhancing farmer resillience through animal welfare
- Restoring local ecosystems
Our Alignment to the UN SDGs
Since 2020, we have chosen to link our sustainability strategy to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as we felt that this would provide an appropriate framework for our activities. When plotting the 17 goals against our Sustainability objectives, we found that we have the opportunity to positively contribute to a number of them but identified the following as being most closely aligned to our Making a Difference strategy.
Good Health and
Wellbeing
Our global THRIVE programme supports positive physical, emotional, social and financial wellbeing.
Alignment to Sustainability Strategic Pillars:
Decent Work and
Economic Growth
We are proud to have retained our status as a Living Wage (or equivalent) employer globally.
Alignment to Sustainability Strategic Pillars:
Reduced
Inequalities
We are also committed to reducing the gender pay gap in our business.
Alignment to Sustainability Strategic Pillars:
Responsible
Consumption and
Production
We are committed to minimising the impact of our operations, helping to create a more resilient business and protect the environment.
Alignment to Sustainability Strategic Pillars:
Climate
Action
We have submitted ambitious near term carbon emission reduction targets to the SBTi and are developing a roadmap to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.
Alignment to Sustainability Strategic Pillars:
