Nordisk

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Nordisk Sustainability Actions

Integrated sustainability reporting

For the first time, the Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk has integrated its voluntary corporate reporting to include the social, environmental, and financial performance. The 2004 Annual Report brought together material previously contained in three separate publications, presenting information in a magazine format that features "hot topics" as well as 64 pages of financial and non-financial accounts.

Responsible business clause

In 2004, the company amended its articles of association to specify that the company will ‘strive to conduct its activities in a financially, environmentally and socially responsible way’.

Climate change strategy

It also developed a climate change strategy, entering a partnership with the global environmental group WWF to achieve an absolute reduction in its carbon dioxide emissions by 2014.

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Human rights standards

It began road-testing the United Nations Norms on the Responsibilities of Transnational Corporations, with a view to developing human rights standards.

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Executive sustainability bonus

It established a bonus scheme for its 26 most senior executives that includes performance on key sustainability-driven projects.

Affordable insulin access

It sold insulin at 20% of the average price in the industrialized world to 33 Least Developed Countries (LDC) — compared to 16 in 2003 — as part of a program to offer more affordably priced insulin to all 49 LDCs.

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Global health initiatives

It reached an estimated 21 million people worldwide in 2004 through Novo Nordisk’s global health initiatives such as the National Diabetes Programme and DAWN (Diabetes, Attitudes, Wishes and Needs).

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CSRD report restructuring

In its 2nd CSRD report (FY2025), Novo Nordisk restructured its sustainability statement to “improve clarity for readers who prioritise strategic sustainability topics” by placing decision-relevant topics first, followed by other material topics. The appendix was moved to the very end of the annual report, and three sub-topics were scoped out in the DMA.

Prioritised material topics

Novo Nordisk applies an additional layer of prioritization, focusing on topics that are 1) double material 2) score highest in the DMA, and 3) are clearly linked to strategic aspirations. The report is organized around what matters most to the business, leading with “Patient protection and quality of life” rather than defaulting to E1 Climate change.