Measuring the impact of our products and solutions

Lives improved
How we calculate lives improved
Measuring our environmental impact
Green healthcare

Lives improved

To guide our efforts and measure our progress, we take a two-dimensional approach – social and ecological – to improving people’s lives.

Products or solutions from our portfolio that directly support the curative or preventive side of people’s health determine the contribution to the social dimension. This is also our contribution to UN Sustainable Development Goal 3 (“to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages”).

The contribution to the ecological dimension is determined by means of our steadily growing Green Products and Solutions portfolio, such as the energy-efficient products in our Personal Health businesses. This is our contribution to Sustainable Development Goal 12 (“to ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns”).

Finally, our program to become carbon-neutral in our operations by 2020 contributes to SDG 13 ("take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts").

In line with the Sustainable Development Goals’ time horizon, we aim to achieve our 3 billion Lives Improved goal by 2030 (2018: 1.54 billion lives improved).

Click here for the latest Lives Improved numbers.

How we calculate Lives Improved

We track the number of active products and solutions in the market and apply statistical data from product experts and market intelligence on the number of people touched in a given year by those products and solutions contributing to the social or ecological dimension. After elimination of double counts – multiple different product and solutions touches per individual are only counted once – we calculate the number of lives improved.

Please click here for a more detailed version of the Lives Improved methodology.

Measuring our environmental impact

We measure our environmental impact on society at large via a so-called Environmental Profit & Loss (EP&L) account, which includes the hidden environmental costs associated with our activities and products.

The EP&L account is based on Life Cycle Assessment methodology, in which the environmental impacts are expressed in monetary terms using conversion factors developed by CE Delft.

In 2018, we reduced the environmental impact of Philips’ operations by 15% to EUR 175 million.

For more information, please refer to our methodology report.

Green healthcare

We are keen to help healthcare systems create facilities that are fit for the demands of the 21st century and make the most of their resources.

Care providers are increasingly convinced that such an approach makes good business sense, protects our planet’s natural resources and helps to deliver a higher standard of care.