Novo Nordisk is a Danish pharmaceutical company headquartered in Bagsværd, focused on diabetes care, obesity and rare diseases; its roots go back to 1923.
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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. Fees pay for the review, never the result. Last verified October 2026.
That places Novo Nordisk joint 335th of 883 companies scored, and joint 10th of 20 in Healthcare / Pharmaceuticals.
Where Novo Nordisk sits among healthcare / pharmaceuticals peers.
Among the 20 major healthcare / pharmaceuticals brands we've scored, Novo Nordisk is tied =10th of 20, with 1 other.
Its three lowest-scoring questions, and what the evidence didn't show.
Company states it achieved no emission reductions in 2025 and expects rises to continue until ~2030.
No external targets yet; site savings planned for 2028.
The full reasoning is in the ten questions below.
A score changes when the evidence does. We use new published evidence at the next rescore. Evidence that isn't public can count through an evidence review.
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Get in touch →Strongest on Transparency & Accountability and Carbon Footprint — Operations (8/10, 7/10). Weakest on Emissions Trajectory and Water Impact (0/10, 4/10).
The 3 companies in the sector scoring nearest above Novo Nordisk.
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 →AbbVie has achieved meaningful absolute emissions reductions and maintains science-aligned near-term climate targets, but obscures its full supply chain footprint and lacks net-zero validation.
See the breakdown →Philips demonstrates strong climate governance with SBTi-validated targets, 80% renewable energy, and A-list CDP scores across 11 years.
See the breakdown →The formula and all 10 sources.
Same ten questions for every company. No private weighting.
SINK = (0.3 × Base + 0.7 × Performance) × Scale10 sources used in this assessment. All publicly available. Each row shows which of the ten questions it informed.
“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.
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.
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