Novo Nordisk sustainability score: 42/100
Better than 45% of Healthcare / Pharmaceuticals
Making progress starts at 46. The highest score on SINK is 71.
Novo Nordisk is a Danish pharmaceutical company headquartered in Bagsværd, focused on diabetes care, obesity and rare diseases; its roots go back to 1923. It had about 69,500 employees and DKK 309 billion revenue in 2025.
Head office Bagsværd, DenmarkStaff ~69,505 (headcount, 2025)Revenue ~DKK 309.1B (FY2025)Website ↗
Novo Nordisk's total emissions rose for a third year, up 19% in 2025 to 2.69 MtCO2e, and the company says it made no reductions that year. Renewable electricity at its production sites fell from 100% to 86% after it bought new sites. Its reporting is thorough and assured, but Danish press has reported criticism of local water impacts tied to its expansion.
Novo Nordisk scores 42/100 (Below expectations) on SINK's independent climate assessment, scored from public data only. Scores are free. Nobody can pay to change a score, speed it up or hide it. Last verified October 2026.
That places Novo Nordisk joint 362nd of 1,023 companies scored, and joint 10th of 21 in Healthcare / Pharmaceuticals.
What is Novo Nordisk doing well, and where does it fall short?
Strongest on Transparency & Accountability and Carbon Footprint: Operations (8/10, 7/10). Weakest on Emissions Trajectory and Water Impact (0/10, 4/10).
Where Novo Nordisk lost points
For each question that lost points, the evidence our public rubric looks for that we didn't find.
What would raise this score
- Whether its emissions are fallingShow its emissions are falling.
- Its effect on waterMeasure its water footprint and set reduction targets.
- How clean its energy isShow at least half its energy is renewable, with a transition plan.
Every question that lost points
- Emissions from its own operations7/10Its own emissions aren't independently verified or tracked over several years.
- Emissions from its supply chain7/10No full value-chain map or supplier engagement programme.
- Whether its emissions are falling0/10No evidence its emissions are falling.
- How clean its energy is5/10Less than half its energy shown to be renewable, or no transition plan.
- Its effect on nature5/10Its effect on nature isn't measured or independently verified.
- How it uses materials and handles waste6/10No verified figures for reuse and recycling across the business.
- Its effect on water4/10No measured water footprint with reduction targets.
- Its climate targets7/10Its targets aren't validated by the Science Based Targets initiative.
- How openly it reports8/10No mission-locked structure, such as B Corp certification.
- Its record on controversies5/10Points deducted for controversies or its business model. The finding is under question 10.
A score changes when the evidence does. We use new published evidence at the next rescore. Anyone can send us new evidence, free. How to send it.
How is Novo Nordisk's SINK score calculated?
Same ten questions for every company. No private weighting.
SINK = (0.3 × Base + 0.7 × Performance) × ScaleWhat evidence is Novo Nordisk's score based on?
10 sources used in this assessment. All publicly available. Each row shows which of the ten questions it informed.
50% of them were published by Novo Nordisk itself; the rest come from independent sources.
“Scope 1 GHG emissions 120 85 78 41%”
“our scope 3 emissions, which comprise about 96% of our total emissions, continue to rise”
“More than 3,000 suppliers have committed to renewable electricity sourcing”
“Currently, 57% of our energy consumption comes from renewable sources, and our renewable electricity share is 86%.”
“In 2025, scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions increased by 19% as expected due to planned expansions”
“I stedet for at etablere regnvandsbassin på egen matrikel vil Novo Nordisk lukke mere spildevand ud til en fredet mose med særligt beskyttede bilag 4-arter.”
“en massiv industriudvidelse fra Novo Nordisk får nu regeringen til at fritage Kalundborg Kommune fra en planlagt indsats.”
“overall CO₂e emissions across scopes 1, 2 and full scope 3 rose by 19% year‑on‑year”
“Novo Nordisk is a member of the US Chamber of Commerce , which engages predominantly negatively on climate policy.”
“with an agreement inked with Swedish power company Vattenfall and another to run its Clayton, North Carolina-based facility with solar power”
If you believe a source has been misread or a newer version exists, submit a challenge.
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How does Novo Nordisk compare with other healthcare / pharmaceuticals companies?
Where Novo Nordisk sits among healthcare / pharmaceuticals peers.
Among the 21 major healthcare / pharmaceuticals brands we've scored, Novo Nordisk is tied =10th of 21, with 2 others.
Who scores higher in Healthcare / Pharmaceuticals?
The 3 companies in the sector scoring nearest above Novo Nordisk.
Roche has achieved strong operational decarbonisation (46% S1&2 reduction since 2022) and received SBTi validation for net-zero targets — a pharma first.
See the breakdown →AstraZeneca has cut operational emissions 88% since 2015, but Scope 3 has risen 24% above baseline and now comprises 99% of total footprint.
See the breakdown →Sanofi's own emissions are 49% below 2019, but its total of 4.45 MtCO2e was flat in 2025 because its supply-chain emissions rose slightly.
See the breakdown →Which companies moved this week, and why.
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