AstraZeneca's Pam Cheng Drives Sustainability Leadership with Decarbonisation Ambitions

AstraZeneca's Pam Cheng has made significant strides in advancing sustainability leadership within the pharmaceutical company, ranking No. 7 in Sustainability Magazine's Top 250 Sustainability Leaders 2026.

Pam, who serves as Executive Vice President of Global Operations & IT and Chief Sustainability Officer at AstraZeneca, has been instrumental in driving decarbonisation, nature restoration, and health equity efforts since joining the company in 2015.

With a career spanning over two decades in pharmaceutical leadership, Pam began her journey in engineering after studying chemical engineering at Stevens Institute of Technology. She later held various positions at Universal Oil Products, Union Carbide Corporation, GAF Chemicals, and Merck, where she became President of MSD China.

AstraZeneca's approach to sustainability focuses on three interconnected areas: health equity, health systems resilience, and climate and nature action. The company aims to reduce Scope 3 emissions by 50% by 2030 and 90% by 2045, with a broader ambition to become carbon negative across its value chain by 2030.

Pam has overseen substantial progress in reducing the company's environmental footprint since taking on her current role. AstraZeneca has reduced Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 98% compared to its 2015 baseline, marking significant progress towards operational decarbonisation targets.