Reaching more people while addressing our environmental impact 

Climate change poses significant risks to human health, communities and ecosystems around the world. Novo is working to reduce greenhouse gas emissions across our operations and value chain while continuing to meet growing needs.

While we have direct control over emissions from our own facilities (scope 1 and 2), most of our climate impact occurs throughout our value chain. This includes the materials used to manufacture our products, the services we purchase and the transport of medicines worldwide (scope 3).

By reducing emissions across our business and working closely with suppliers and partners, we aim to strengthen the resilience of our operations and supply chains.

We have set science-based targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions across our business and value chain:

  • Reduce Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 75% by 2033 from a 2024 baseline
  • Reduce Scope 3 emissions by 33% by 2033 from a 2024 baseline
  • Achieve net zero emissions across our value chain by 2045

These targets provide a clear pathway for reducing emissions while supporting long-term business growth and patient access to medicines.

Direct emissions from sources we own or control. This includes sources such as production facilities, company cars and indirect emissions associated with the energy we consume.

Emissions that occur throughout our value chain. This includes raw materials, purchased goods and services, construction, logistics and other activities outside our direct operations. Today, more than 90% of our greenhouse gas emissions occur in our value chain, making collaboration with suppliers and partners essential to achieving our climate ambitions.

Read about our Suppliers for Zero collaboration 

Site electrification
At our production sites, we are replacing fossil fuel-based energy systems with electric technologies. By electrifying energy-intensive processes, such as heat and steam generation, and powering them with renewable electricity, we can lower emissions while strengthening energy resilience.

Renewable energy
Energy use at our production sites is the largest source of operational emissions. We aim to source renewable energy across all key production sites by 2033 through renewable energy agreements and investments in multiple markets worldwide. Currently, 57% of our energy consumption comes from renewable sources, and our renewable electricity share is 86%. We are continuing our efforts to transition the remaining energy consumption to renewable sources.

Fleet electrification
We are converting our company fleet from gasoline and diesel cars to electric cars as part of our efforts to reduce emissions. Currently, our share of battery electric cars is 11%, and we are working to accelerate this transition.

The vast majority of our emissions occur outside our own operations, making supplier collaboration crucial. We work with suppliers to increase renewable energy use, set climate targets and identify lower-carbon ways of producing the materials and services we rely on. Through these partnerships, we are helping drive emissions reductions across our value chain while building greater resilience and increasing transparency around progress, data and expectations for suppliers.

Lower-carbon materials, goods and services
The materials used to manufacture medicines and devices account for a significant share of our emissions. We are working with suppliers to scale lower-carbon alternatives for key materials, including glucose, plastics, ammonia, and other production inputs. This includes increasing our use of renewable and recycled feedstocks, supporting regenerative agricultural practices and exploring lower-carbon production methods. In addition, we aim to increase the use of IT-hardware with a lower CO2 footprint through more sustainable procurement and lifecycle management. We also aim to measure and reduce emissions from clinical trials by incorporating sustainability considerations into trial design.

Sustainable construction and procurement
We integrate sustainability considerations into investment decisions, procurement practices and facility design. This includes working to reduce emissions associated with construction materials and equipment.

Lower-carbon logistics
Distribution plays an important role in delivering medicines safely to patients around the world. We are reducing emissions from logistics by improving transport efficiency, increasing the use of renewable fuels and supporting the transition to lower-carbon freight solutions, including electrification where feasible.

Carbon removals
Reducing emissions remains our primary focus. For residual emissions that are difficult to eliminate, we are exploring high-quality carbon removals as a complementary part of our long-term net-zero strategy.