Merck sustainability score: 39/100
Merck & Co. is a multinational pharmaceutical and chemical manufacturer headquartered in the US, producing prescription medicines, vaccines, and animal health products. A Fortune 500 company with 60,000+ employees, it ranks among the sector's largest by revenue and faces intense scrutiny on drug pricing, supply chain emissions, and environmental legacy.
Founded 1968Head office Rahway, New Jersey, USStaff ~74,000Revenue ~$64BWebsite ↗
Merck reports emissions via GHG Protocol with third-party assurance, but buries specific figures in CDP filings. Scope 3 dominates at 7× Scope 1&2 yet lacks full category disclosure. The 2025 carbon neutrality claim relies on offsets, not real cuts. Historical water violations (2006–2007) are resolved but signal past operational risk.
Merck scores 39/100 (Below expectations) on SINK's independent climate assessment, scored from public data only. Scores are free. Companies can never pay for anything about their own score. Last verified May 2026.
That places Merck joint 432nd of 934 companies scored, and joint 13th of 22 in Healthcare / Pharmaceuticals.
What is Merck doing well, and where does it fall short?
Strongest on Carbon Footprint: Operations and Energy Source (6/10, 6/10). Weakest on Nature & Biodiversity Impact and Emissions Trajectory (3/10, 4/10).
Where Merck lost points
For each question that lost points, the evidence our public rubric looks for that we didn't find.
- Emissions from its own operations6/10Its own emissions aren't independently verified or tracked over several years.
- Emissions from its supply chain5/10Most of its supply-chain (Scope 3) emissions aren't measured.
- Whether its emissions are falling4/10No evidence of a year-on-year fall in its total emissions.
- How clean its energy is6/10Less than 90% of its energy shown to be renewable.
- Its effect on nature3/10No assessment of its effect on nature, and no basic environmental policy.
- How it uses materials and handles waste4/10No measurable waste or recycling targets reported publicly.
- Its effect on water5/10No measured water footprint with reduction targets.
- Its climate targets5/10Its targets aren't science-based or committed to the Science Based Targets initiative.
- How openly it reports6/10No annual impact report, or no pay linked to climate targets.
- 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 Merck's SINK score calculated?
Same ten questions for every company. No private weighting.
SINK = (0.3 × Base + 0.7 × Performance) × ScaleWhat evidence is Merck's score based on?
12 sources used in this assessment. All publicly available. Each row shows which of the ten questions it informed.
67% of them were published by Merck itself; the rest come from independent sources.
Scored on 4 April 2026 under an earlier version of our method. We're re-checking it under the current method.
If you believe a source has been misread or a newer version exists, submit a challenge.
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How does Merck compare with other healthcare / pharmaceuticals companies?
Where Merck sits among healthcare / pharmaceuticals peers.
Among the 22 major healthcare / pharmaceuticals brands we've scored, Merck is tied =13th of 22, with 3 others.
Who scores higher in Healthcare / Pharmaceuticals?
The 3 companies in the sector scoring nearest above Merck.
Pharmacy2U's footprint was 417,388 tCO2e in its year to March 2025, almost all of it (407,000 t) the medicines it buys; its earlier, much lower totals left most of its supply chain out.
See the breakdown →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.
See the breakdown →Which companies moved this week, and why.
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