AstraZeneca PLC – Annual report – 31 December 2024
Industry: pharmaceuticals
Nomination and Governance Committee Report (extract)
Inclusion and diversity
The Board views all aspects of diversity among Board members as important considerations when reviewing its composition. The Board aims to maintain a balance in terms of the range of experience and skills of individual Board members, which includes relevant international business, pharmaceutical industry, sustainability, and financial experience, and appropriate scientific and regulatory knowledge. The biographies of current Directors are set out on pages 88 and 89.
The Board’s Inclusion and Diversity Policy (the Policy), which is applicable to the Board and its Committees, reinforces the Board’s ongoing commitment to all aspects of diversity and to fostering an inclusive environment in which each Director feels valued and respected. Although the Board appoints candidates using objective criteria, primarily based on merit and relevant experience, it recognises that an effective Board requires diversity. To help recruit Directors from a broad, qualified group of candidates, the Policy requires the use of at least one professional search firm that has signed up to the ‘Voluntary Code of Conduct for Executive Search Firms’, which the Company has complied with in 2024.
The Board’s approach to inclusion and diversity continues to yield successful results, as shown in the following tables. The information presented in the tables was collected on a self-reporting basis. The Board, SET and Company Secretary were provided with the prescribed table, and asked to complete it based on how they identify. As at 31 December 2024, the Board is pleased that the Company met the updated diversity policy targets as specified in the FCA’s April 2022 Policy Statement on ‘Diversity and inclusion on company boards and executive management’:
- 46% of the Board (and 45% of Non-Executive Directors) were women, above the target of at least 40%.
- The Company met the policy target that at least one of the Chair of the Board, Chief Executive Officer, Senior independent Non-Executive Director or Chief Financial Officer be a woman.
- 31% of the Board identified as an ethnic minority, above the target of at least one Board member being from a non‑white ethnic minority background.
As at 6 February 2025, these targets continue to be met, following the appointment of Rene and Birgit.
As well as being considered in decisions about succession and Board appointments, inclusion and diversity is integrated across our Code of Ethics and associated workforce policy for the organisation as a whole. We were named first ranking healthcare company in the FTSE 100 for women on boards and in leadership in the FTSE Women Leaders Review. For the year ended 31 December 2024, women represented 50% of the SET and its leadership teams.
The Board’s Inclusion and Diversity Policy can be read in full on our website, www.astrazeneca.com.
Table 1. Reporting table on sex/gender representation as at 31 December 2024
Table 2. Reporting table on ethnicity representation as at 31 December 2024
1 CEO, CFO, Senior independent Non-Executive Director and Chair.
Accounts examples 