DEERFIELD, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (Nasdaq: WBA) today launched the At the Heart of Health 2020 Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Report, which outlines the impact of its commitment to the critical needs facing communities today, including access to healthcare, diversity and inclusion accountability and innovative and sustainable solutions including reducing its carbon footprint and generation of waste while increasing re-use and recycling.
To mark the launch of the CSR Report, WBA – along with host Bloomberg Media Brand Experiences – will welcome industry and thought leaders to “Health and Humanity: Lessons from the Global Frontline,” a virtual event that will touch on today’s most pressing issues, from vaccine equity to diversity and inclusion to sustainability.
During the event, WBA will share how it continues to expand its role as a responsible corporate citizen through commitments to its four focus areas: healthy communities, a healthy planet, an inclusive workplace and a sustainable marketplace, and supports the communities it serves with equitable access to healthcare when they need it most.
“Helping people lead healthier, happier lives is at the heart of our business,” said Ornella Barra, WBA’s co-chief operating officer and the chairman of the company’s Corporate Social Responsibility Committee. “For generations, it has been both our responsibility and a business imperative to operate as a force for good for people and the planet – especially in times of crisis. Throughout the pandemic, we remain on the front line to ensure we safely provide healthcare services and support, which now includes COVID-19 vaccine administration, while also progressing in our other key CSR focus areas.”
Highlights from 2020
In 2020, the company stepped up as a force for good to support its communities and made progress on its goals by:
- Improving healthcare access and raising awareness of health issues through: COVID-19 testing in underserved communities; programs in Chicago to address health inequities; the creation of safe spaces for victims of domestic violence in Chile, Ireland and the UK; and online pharmacy and beauty support for UK cancer patients.
- Implementing safety, health, workplace flexibility and information measures for employees. These efforts earned WBA recognition from JUST Capital and Forbes, which ranked WBA 19th on a list of the 100 largest U.S. employers for COVID-19 response.
- Holding managers accountable for increasing diversity by connecting pay incentives to results on WBA’s leadership diversity goals.
- Helping to provide vitamins to more than 250 million vulnerable women and children as well as 60 million lifesaving vaccines in developing nations through long-term partnerships.
- Reducing its carbon footprint, achieving its long-term energy intensity reduction goal across Walgreens retail space, reducing its generation of waste and increasing its recycling rate.
- Reducing unnecessary plastics from WBA’s owned brand products packaging and joining industry collaborations to reduce packaging waste.
WBA invites you to attend today’s virtual event, “Health and Humanity: Lessons from the Global Frontline,” beginning at 10 a.m. ET/9 a.m. CT. The event will feature experts on healthcare, diversity, equity and inclusion, sustainability and pharmacy and will touch on learnings from the pandemic and ways to make health systems more equitable and resilient for the future. Panelists include Alex Gorsky, Chairman and CEO of Johnson & Johnson; Jean-Paul Agon, CEO of L'Oréal; Valerie Jarrett, President, The Obama Foundation and Board Member of Walgreens Boots Alliance; and Dr. Sally Uren, OBE, CEO at Forum for the Future.
You can read more about WBA’s Corporate Social Responsibility efforts here.
Notes to Editors:
About Walgreens Boots Alliance
Walgreens Boots Alliance (Nasdaq: WBA) is a global leader in retail and wholesale pharmacy, touching millions of lives every day through dispensing and distributing medicines, and through its convenient retail locations, digital platforms and health and beauty products. The company has more than 100 years of trusted health care heritage and innovation in community pharmacy and pharmaceutical wholesaling.
Including equity method investments, WBA has a presence in more than 25 countries, employs more than 450,000 people and has more than 21,000 stores.
WBA’s purpose is to help people across the world lead healthier and happier lives. The company is proud of its contributions to healthy communities, a healthy planet, an inclusive workplace and a sustainable marketplace. WBA is a participant of the United Nations Global Compact and adheres to its principles-based approach to responsible business.
WBA is included in FORTUNE’s 2020 list of the World’s Most Admired Companies*, ranked first in the food and drugstore category. This is the 27th consecutive year that WBA or its predecessor company, Walgreen Co., has been named to the list.
More company information is available at www.walgreensbootsalliance.com.
*© 2020, Fortune Media IP Limited. Used under license.
(WBA-GEN)
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements: All statements in this release and related virtual event that are not historical, including goals for and projections of future results, the expected execution and effect of our corporate social responsibility strategies and initiatives and the amounts and timing of their expected impact, are forward-looking statements that are based on current societal, market, competitive and regulatory expectations and are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks, assumptions and uncertainties, including those described in Item 1A (Risk Factors) of our Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended August 31, 2020, our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended November 30, 2020, and in other documents that we file or furnish with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made. We do not undertake, and expressly disclaim, any duty or obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statement after the date of this release, whether as a result of new information, future events, changes in assumptions or otherwise.
